HB1856: Emergency medical services; Board of Health to develop policies related to statewide providers.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. That the Board of Health shall direct the State
Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board to, by July 1, 2014, develop and
facilitate the implementation of (i) a process whereby an emergency medical
services [ personnel provider ] who is certified by
the Office of Emergency Medical Services pursuant to § 32.1-111.5 and who has
received an adverse decision related to his authority to provide emergency
medical care on behalf of an emergency medical services agency under the
authority of an agency operational medical director shall be informed of the
appeals process and (ii) a standard operating procedure template to be used in
the development of local protocols for emergency medical services personnel for
basic life support services provided by emergency medical services personnel.
The Board, in cooperation with the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory
Board, shall also review the training for emergency medical services personnel
throughout the state to identify and address disparities in the delivery of
training to and the availability of training for emergency medical services
personnel. The Board shall report on its progress in meeting the requirements
of this act to the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the
Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2013.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. That the Board of Health shall direct the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board to, by July 1, 2014, develop and facilitate the implementation of (i) a process whereby an emergency medical services personnel who is certified by the Office of Emergency Medical Services pursuant to § 32.1-111.5 and who has received an adverse decision related to his authority to provide emergency medical care on behalf of an emergency medical services agency under the authority of an agency operational medical director shall be informed of the appeals process and (ii) a standard operating procedure template to be used in the development of local protocols for emergency medical services personnel for basic life support services provided by emergency medical services personnel. The Board, in cooperation with the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, shall also review the training for emergency medical services personnel throughout the state to identify and address disparities in the delivery of training to and the availability of training for emergency medical services personnel. The Board shall report on its progress in meeting the requirements of this act to the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2013.
HOUSE BILL NO. 1856
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That 32.1-111.4 and 32.1-111.5 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
32.1-111.4. Regulations; emergency medical services personnel and vehicles; response times; enforcement provisions; civil penalties.
A. The State Board of Health shall prescribe by regulation:
1. Requirements for record keeping, supplies, operating procedures and other agency operations;
2. Requirements for the sanitation and maintenance of emergency medical services vehicles and their medical supplies and equipment;
3. Procedures, including the requirements for forms, to authorize qualified emergency medical services personnel to follow Do Not Resuscitate Orders pursuant to 54.1-2987.1;
4. Requirements for the composition, administration, duties and responsibilities of the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board;
5. Requirements, developed in consultation with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, governing the training, certification, and recertification of emergency medical services personnel;
6. Requirements for written notification to the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, the State Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the Financial Assistance and Review Committee of the Board's action, and the reasons therefor, on requests and recommendations of the Advisory Board, the State Office of Emergency Medical Services or the Committee, no later than five workdays after reaching its decision, specifying whether the Board has approved, denied, or not acted on such requests and recommendations;
7. Authorization procedures, developed in consultation with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, which allow the possession and administration of epinephrine or a medically accepted equivalent for emergency cases of anaphylactic shock by certain levels of certified emergency medical services personnel as authorized by 54.1-3408 and authorization procedures that allow the possession and administration of oxygen with the authority of the local medical director and a licensed emergency medical services agency;
8. A uniform definition of "response time" and
requirements, developed in consultation with the Emergency Medical Services
Advisory Board, for each agency to measure response times starting from the
time a call for emergency medical care is received until (i) the time an
appropriate emergency medical response unit is responding and (ii) the
appropriate emergency medical response unit arrives on the scene, and
requirements for agencies to collect and report such data to the Director of
the Office of Emergency Medical Services who shall compile such information and
make it available to the public, upon request; and
9. Enforcement provisions, including, but not limited to, civil penalties that the Commissioner may assess against any agency or other entity found to be in violation of any of the provisions of this article or any regulation promulgated under this article. All amounts paid as civil penalties for violations of this article or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall be paid into the state treasury and shall be deposited in the emergency medical services special fund established pursuant to 46.2-694, to be used only for emergency medical services purposes; and
10. A statewide standard operating procedure for activities performed by emergency medical services personnel and agencies.
B. The Board shall classify agencies and emergency medical services vehicles by type of service rendered and shall specify the medical equipment, the supplies, the vehicle specifications and the personnel required for each classification.
C. In formulating its regulations, the Board shall consider the current Minimal Equipment List for Ambulances adopted by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons.
32.1-111.5. Certification and recertification of emergency medical services personnel.
A. The Board shall prescribe by regulation the qualifications required for certification of emergency medical care attendants, including those qualifications necessary for authorization to follow Do Not Resuscitate Orders pursuant to 54.1-2987.1. Such regulations shall include criteria for determining whether an applicant's relevant practical experience and didactic and clinical components of education and training completed during his service as a member of any branch of the armed forces of the United States may be accepted by the Commissioner as evidence of satisfaction of the requirements for certification.
B. Each person desiring certification as emergency medical services personnel shall apply to the Commissioner upon a form prescribed by the Board. Upon receipt of such application, the Commissioner shall cause the applicant to be examined or otherwise determined to be qualified for certification. When determining whether an applicant is qualified for certification, the Commissioner shall consider and may accept relevant practical experience and didactic and clinical components of education and training completed by an applicant during his service as a member of any branch of the armed forces of the United States as evidence of satisfaction of the requirements for certification. If the Commissioner determines that the applicant meets the requirements for certification as emergency medical services personnel, he shall issue a certificate to the applicant. An emergency medical services personnel certificate so issued shall be valid for a period required by law or prescribed by the Board. The certificates may be renewed after successful reexamination of the holder. Any certificate so issued may be suspended at any time that the Commissioner determines that the holder no longer meets the qualifications prescribed for such emergency medical services personnel. The Commissioner may temporarily suspend any certificate without notice, pending a hearing or informal fact-finding conference, if the Commissioner finds that there is a substantial danger to public health or safety. When the Commissioner has temporarily suspended a certificate pending a hearing, the Commissioner shall seek an expedited hearing in accordance with the Administrative Process Act ( 2.2-4000 et seq.).
C. The Board shall prescribe by regulation procedures and the qualifications required for the recertification of emergency medical services personnel. Such regulations shall include (i) authorization for continuing education and skills testing, in lieu of a written examination, with the signature of the relevant operational medical director; (ii) authorization for the relevant operational medical director to require the written examinations administered or approved by the Office of Emergency Medical Services, as deemed necessary, of certain emergency medical services personnel; (iii) authorization for exemptions from the written test for recertification by the relevant operational medical director; (iv) triennial recertification of advanced life support providers; (v) approval by the Office of Emergency Medical Services of continuing education modules in which each module may be tested separately; and (vi) effective on January 1, 1998, a sequential option for the completion of the skills tests for recertification.
D. The Commissioner may issue a temporary certificate when he finds that it is in the public interest. A temporary certificate shall be valid for a period not exceeding ninety days.
E. No operational medical director shall prohibit an emergency medical services provider from practicing emergency medical services in the absence of remedial or corrective measures or suspension.