Pennsylvania Further Extends Temporary Waiver of Certain CPR Rules for State Board of Massage Therapy and State Board of Dentistry

On April 7, 2020, the Department of State issued a waiver temporarily suspending the requirement that licensed massage therapists under the State Board of Massage Therapy maintain active certifications in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). See Department of State Temporarily Waives CPR Rules for Two Additional Professional Licensing Boards. That same waiver also temporarily suspended the requirement that licensed dentists, dental hygienists and expanded function dental assistants under the State Board of Dentistry maintain active certifications in CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS). CPR or BLS certifications that were in effect on March 17, 2020, are currently recognized as remaining valid and in effect until December 31, 2020.

With the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, securing the required CPR/BLS in-person recertification training required for license renewal may become difficult. In addition, because these two boards' biennial renewal deadlines fall on dates other than Dec. 31, 2020, maintaining that date as the termination date pursuant to the terms of the previous waiver will present unnecessarily complicated administrative challenges.

Therefore, to alleviate these challenges and align the termination date of the CPR/BLS waiver with each board's respective renewal deadlines, and give licensees of those boards additional time to obtain the necessary certification training, the Governor approved the Department's request that the previous waiver related to CPR training for massage therapists be further extended for the duration of the board's current renewal period, which ends January 31, 2021. The Massage Therapy Board will consider any CPR certification that was in effect on March 17, 2020, to remain in effect through January 31, 2021. Massage therapists may take an online CPR training class in lieu of in-person training to renew their CPR certification, which will be accepted as meeting the CPR requirement for the biennial renewal ending January 31, 2021.

The Governor also approved the Department's requests that the previous waiver related to CPR and BLS training for dentists, dental hygienists and expanded function dental assistants be further extended for the duration of the board's current renewal period, which ends March 31, 2021. The Dental Board will consider any CPR or BLS certification that was in effect on March 17, 2020, to remain in effect through March 31, 2021.  For the current renewal period, dentists, dental hygienists and expanded function dental assistants may take online CPR and BLS training classes in lieu of in-person training to renew their CPR and/or BLS certifications, which will be accepted as meeting the CPR/BLS requirements for the biennial renewal ending March 31, 2021.