There has been a fair amount of confusion about PFT lab staff licensure requirements. This information is not available on the AARC website, nor on any of the AARC state society websites. A month or so ago I reached out to all of the AARC state societies but received responses from only a handful of them. I was recently able to complete this research however, by visiting the websites of the remaining state licensing boards and state legislatures.
It turns out that the majority of states require licensure of PFT Lab staff, most often by requiring CRT or RRT credentials, occasionally by allowing CPFT and RPFT credentials and in a couple of cases, a state licensure exam. There were also a couple of cases where the regulations were so vaguely written that it wasn’t clear whether pulmonary function testing fell under the Respiratory Care practitioner scope of practice or not.
Anyway, based on state society feedback and my best interpretation of the relevant laws and regulations, the following list should be a reasonably accurate look at the licensure requirements for each state.