Bill Text: CA AB2700 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Emergency medical services: alternate destinations.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2700 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2700-Amended.html
Bill Title: Emergency medical services: alternate destinations.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2700 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2700-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 01, 2024 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 11, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2700
| Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel |
February 14, 2024 |
An act to add Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 1870) to Division 2.5 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to emergency medical services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2700, as amended, Gabriel.
Emergency medical services: alternate destinations.
Existing law authorizes a county to develop an emergency medical services (EMS) program, and requires a county developing that program to designate a local EMS agency. Existing law authorizes a local EMS agency to develop a community paramedicine or triage to alternate destination program that, among other things, selects providers to triage individuals to mental health facilities and sobering centers as alternates to emergency departments. Existing law requires the Emergency Medical Services Authority to develop and, after approval by the Commission on Emergency Medical Services, adopt regulations and establish minimum standards for the development of those programs.
This bill would require the state to survey and analyze the facilities in each county that can serve as an alternate destination facility. The bill would require a local
emergency medical services agency to develop an alternate destination facility plan with protocols for transporting an individual to an alternate destination facility instead of an emergency department.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 1870) is added to Division 2.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:CHAPTER 15. Alternate Destination Facility Plans
1870.
For purposes of this chapter:(a) “Alternate destination facility” means a treatment location that serves as an alternative to an emergency department, including a mental health facility or sobering center.
(b) “EMS” means emergency medical services.
(c) “Mental health facility” means a facility that is licensed or certified as a mental health treatment facility or a hospital, as defined in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 1250, by the State Department of Public Health, and may include a licensed psychiatric hospital, a licensed psychiatric health facility, or a certified
crisis stabilization unit. An authorized mental health facility may also be a psychiatric health facility licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services. The facility shall be staffed at all times with at least one registered nurse.
(d) “Sobering center” means a noncorrectional facility that is staffed at all times with at least one registered nurse, that provides a safe, supportive environment for intoxicated individuals to become sober, and that meets any of the following requirements:
(1) The facility is a federally qualified health center, including a clinic described in subdivision (b) of Section 1206.
(2) The facility is certified by the State Department of Health Care Services Substance Use Disorder
Compliance Division to provide outpatient, nonresidential detoxification services.
(3) The facility has been accredited as a sobering center under the standards developed by the National Sobering Collaborative. meets the National Sobering Collaborative standards of care.
1871.
The state shall survey and analyze the facilities in each county that can serve as an alternate destination facility. The Emergency Medical Services Authority shall publish a report on its internet website that provides each local emergency services agency with the current number, capacity, and type of alternate destination facilities, as well as the needed number, capacity, and type of alternate destination facilities necessary to meet current demand for services.1872.
(a) A local EMS agency, in consultation with the county department or departments relevant to behavioral health within its jurisdiction, shall develop an alternate destination facility plan with protocols for transporting an individual to an alternate destination facility instead of an emergency department.(b) The plan developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall do both of the following:
(1) Ensure that transportation to an emergency department is no longer the default protocol for an individual in need of mental or behavioral health care services.
(2) Utilize existing facilities identified in the report published pursuant to Section 1871.
