(1) The secretary verifies prehospital EMS services to provide service that is consistent with the state plan and approved regional plans. Verification is a higher form of licensure that requires 24-hour, seven day a week compliance with the standards outlined in chapter 70.168 RCW and this chapter. Verification will expire with the prehospital EMS services' periods of licensure.

(2) An aid or ambulance service operating in the state of Washington must apply for verification when you are:

(a) An agency that responds to 911 emergencies as part of its role in the EMS system;

(b) A new business or legal entity that is formed through consolidation of existing services or a newly formed EMS agency;

(c) An EMS agency that seeks to provide prehospital emergency response in a trauma response area which it previously has not been operating; or

(d) A service that is changing or has changed its type of verification or its verification status.

(3) To apply for initial verification or to change verification status of a verified aid or ambulance service, the applicant must:

(a) Be a licensed aid or ambulance service as specified in WAC 246-976-260 or a licensed air ambulance service as specified in WAC 246-976-320;

(b) Provide a completed application for verification on forms provided by the department;

(c) Identify the level(s) of service to be provided 24/7 to include:

(i) Basic life support (BLS);

(ii) Intermediate life support (ILS);

(iii) Advanced life support (ALS);

(d) Meet the staffing requirements identified in WAC 246-976-260;

(e) Meet the equipment requirements for the level(s) of service provided in WAC 246-976-300;

(f) Provide information about the type of aid or ambulance vehicles that will be used by the service;

(g) Provide documentation that describes:

(i) The dispatch plan;

(ii) The deployment plan;

(iii) The response plan to include how patient transport will be continued if a vehicle or EMS providers become disabled;

(iv) The tiered response and rendezvous plan;

(v) Interagency relations. Mutual aid agreements, memoranda of understanding, or other official documents describing interagency relations and the presence of collaboration and cooperation for coordinated services shall be made available to the department upon request; and

(h) Provide service that is consistent with the department-approved application on file for the EMS service, the state plan, and approved regional plan.

(4) To renew verification, you must provide a completed application and documentation for renewal on forms provided by the department at least 30 days before the expiration of the current license.

(5) The department will:

(a) Develop and administer the application and evaluation process for all levels of service;

(b) Provide a description of the documents an applicant must submit to demonstrate that the service meets the standards identified in chapter 70.168 RCW;

(c) Identify minimum and maximum numbers of verified prehospital services, including level of service for each trauma response area based on:

(i) The approved regional EMS and trauma plans; and

(ii) The Washington state EMS and trauma plan;

(d) Develop guidance for local and regional EMS councils regarding trauma response areas and conducting needs assessments to support identification of minimum and maximum numbers of prehospital services;

(e) Request comments to be considered in the department's review from:

(i) The regional council in which a verification application is received;

(ii) The county medical program director in the area which a verification application is applying to provide service; and

(iii) Other stakeholders or interested parties;

(f) Apply the department's evaluation and decision criteria;

(g) Select verified prehospital services;

(h) Approve an applicant to provide verified prehospital trauma care, based on satisfactory evaluations as described in this section;

(i) Approve renewal of a verified service upon reapplication, if the service continues to meet standards established in this chapter and provides service consistent with the department-approved application on file for the EMS service, the state plan and approved regional plan;

(j) Provide written notification to the applicants on the final decision regarding the license and verification; and

(k) Provide written notification to the regional council and county medical program director when the license and verification is first issued, when amendments to existing licenses and verification impacting service provided in the region occur, and when a license with verification has expired.

(6) The department may:

(a) Conduct a preverification site visit; and

(b) Grant a provisional verification not to exceed 120 days. The secretary may withdraw the provisional verification status if provisions of the service's proposal are not implemented within the 120-day period, or as otherwise provided in chapter 70.168 RCW and this chapter.

(7) The department will evaluate prehospital EMS service applicants for verification on a point system. In the event there are two or more applicants, the secretary will verify the most qualified applicant. The decision to verify will be based on at least the following:

(a) Total evaluation points received on completed applications:

(i) Applicants must receive a minimum of 150 points of the total 200 points possible from the overall evaluation scoring tool to qualify for verification;

(ii) Applicants must receive a minimum of 30 points in the evaluation of its clinical and equipment capabilities section of the evaluation scoring tool to qualify for verification;

(b) Recommendations from the on-site review team, if applicable; and

(c) Comments from the regional council(s).

(8) Regional EMS and trauma care councils may provide comments to the department regarding the verification application, including written statements on the following if applicable:

(a) Compliance with the department-approved minimum and maximum number of verified trauma services for the level of verification being sought by the applicant;

(b) How the proposed service will impact care in the region to include discussion on:

(i) Clinical care;

(ii) Response time to prehospital incidents;

(iii) Resource availability;

(iv) Unserved or underserved trauma response areas; and

(v) How the applicant's proposed service will impact existing verified services in the region;

(c) Regional EMS/TC councils will solicit and consider input from local EMS/TC councils where local councils exist.