Bill Text: CA AB820 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Emergency Medical Services: transportation alternatives.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB820 Detail]
Download: California-2017-AB820-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
January 03, 2018 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 23, 2017 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Assembly Bill | No. 820 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Gipson |
February 15, 2017 |
An act to add Section 1797.119 to amend Sections 1797.52, 1797.172, and 1797.218 of, and to add Sections 1797.98 and 1797.260 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to emergency medical services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 820, as amended, Gipson.
Emergency Medical Services Authority: task force: Services: transportation alternatives.
Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, governs local emergency medical services (EMS) systems. The act establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority, which is responsible for the coordination and integration of all state agencies concerning emergency medical services.
This bill would authorize the authority to establish a task force, as provided, to develop a report evaluating alternative destinations to a general acute care hospital for first responders to transport a patient who may be a danger to himself, herself, or others or gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder. The bill would require the report to be published on the authority’s Internet Web site.
a local emergency medical services agency to transport specified patients to a community care facility, as defined, in lieu of transportation to a general acute care hospital.
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.
Section 1797.52 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:1797.52.
“Advanced life support” means special services designed to provide definitive prehospital emergency medical care, including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiac monitoring, cardiac defibrillation, advanced airway management, intravenous therapy, administration of specified drugs and other medicinal preparations, and other specified techniques and procedures administered by authorized personnel under the direct supervision of a base hospital as part of a local EMS system at the scene of an emergency, during transport to an acute care hospital, during interfacility transfer, and while in the emergency department of an acute care hospital until responsibility is assumed by the emergency or other medical staff of thatSEC. 2.
Section 1797.98 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1797.98.
“Community care facility” means a mental health urgent care center or sobering center staffed with medical personnel that is designated by a local EMS agency, as part of an approved local emergency medical services plan.SEC. 3.
Section 1797.172 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:1797.172.
(a) The authority shall develop and, after approval by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50, adopt minimum standards for the training and scope of practice for EMT-P.(b) The approval of the director, in consultation with a committee of local EMS medical directors named by the EMS Medical Directors Association of California, is required prior to implementation of any addition to a local optional scope of practice for EMT-Ps proposed by the medical director of a local EMS agency.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority shall be the agency solely responsible for licensure and licensure renewal of EMT-Ps who meet the standards and are not precluded from licensure because
of any of the reasons listed in subdivision (d) of Section 1798.200. Each application for licensure or licensure renewal shall require the applicant’s social security number in order to establish the identity of the applicant. The information obtained as a result of a state and federal level criminal offender record information search shall be used in accordance with Section 11105 of the Penal Code, and to determine whether the applicant is subject to denial of licensure or licensure renewal pursuant to this division. Submission of fingerprint images to the Department of Justice may not be required for licensure renewal upon determination by the authority that fingerprint images have previously been submitted to the Department of Justice during initial licensure, or a previous licensure renewal, provided that the license has not lapsed and the applicant has resided continuously in the state since the initial licensure.
(d) The authority shall
charge fees for the licensure and licensure renewal of EMT-Ps in an amount sufficient to support the authority’s licensure program at a level that ensures the qualifications of the individuals licensed to provide quality care. The basic fee for licensure or licensure renewal of an EMT-P shall not exceed one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) until the adoption of regulations that specify a different amount that does not exceed the authority’s EMT-P licensure, license renewal, and enforcement programs. The authority shall annually evaluate fees to determine if the fee is sufficient to fund the actual costs of the authority’s licensure, licensure renewal, and enforcement programs. If the evaluation shows that the fees are excessive or are insufficient to fund the actual costs of the authority’s EMT-P licensure, licensure renewal, and enforcement programs, then the fees shall be adjusted accordingly through the rulemaking process described in the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). Separate additional fees may be charged, at the option of the authority, for services that are not shared by all applicants for licensure and licensure renewal, including, but not limited to, any of the following services:
(1) Initial application for licensure as an EMT-P.
(2) Competency testing, the fee for which shall not exceed thirty dollars ($30), except that an additional fee may be charged for the cost of any services that provide enhanced availability of the exam for the convenience of the EMT-P, such as on-demand electronic testing.
(3) Fingerprint and criminal record check. The applicant shall, if applicable according to subdivision (c), submit fingerprint images and related information for criminal offender record information
searches with the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(4) Out-of-state training equivalency determination.
(5) Verification of continuing education for a lapse in licensure.
(6) Replacement of a lost licensure card. The fees charged for individual services shall be set so that the total fees charged to EMT-Ps shall not exceed the authority’s actual total cost for the EMT-P licensure program.
(e) The authority may provide nonconfidential, nonpersonal information relating to EMS programs to interested persons upon request, and may establish and assess fees for the provision of this information. These fees shall not exceed the costs of providing the information.
(f) At the option of the authority, fees may be collected for the authority by an entity that contracts with the authority to provide any of the services associated with the EMT-P program. All fees collected for the authority in a calendar month by any entity designated by the authority pursuant to this section to collect fees for the authority shall be transmitted to the authority for deposit into the Emergency Medical Services Personnel Fund within 30 calendar days following the last day of the calendar month in which the fees were received by the designated entity, unless the contract between the entity and the authority specifies a different timeframe.
(g) Upon approval of a plan to transport patients to a community care facility submitted pursuant to Section 1797.260, the authority shall authorize a local EMS agency to add to its scope of
practice for an EMT-P those activities necessary for the assessment, treatment, and transport of a patient to a community care facility.
SEC. 4.
Section 1797.218 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:1797.218.
Any local EMS agency may authorize an advanced life support or limited advanced life support program which provides services utilizing EMT-II or EMT-P, or both, for the delivery of emergency medical care to the sick and injured at the scene of an emergency, during transport to a general acute care hospital, during interfacility transfer, while in the emergency department of a general acute care hospital until care responsibility is assumed by the regular staff of that hospital, and during training within the facilities of a participating general acute careSEC. 5.
Section 1797.260 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1797.260.
A local EMS agency may submit, as part of its emergency services plan, a plan to transport patients to a community care facility that is not a general acute care hospital based on a determination that there is no need for emergency health care. This plan shall include, without limitation, all of the following:(a) Criteria for designating a facility as a community care facility, including appropriate medical staffing and administrative medical oversight such as a medical director.
(b) One or more policies for prompt evaluation and treatment of patients within a facility.
(c) A communication plan between prehospital medical
personnel.
(d) A secondary transport plan to include criteria for contacting the jurisdictional prehospital provider for transport to an emergency department of an acute care hospital.
(e) Medical equipment and monitoring protocols.
(f) Required submission of a quality improvement plan and patient outcome data to the local EMS agency.
(g) Additional education requirements for paramedics.
(h) Protocols for handling patient destination considerations including requests by patients.
(a)The authority may establish a task force to develop a report evaluating alternative destinations to a general acute care hospital for first responders to transport a patient who may be a danger to himself, herself, or others or gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder.
(b)If the authority establishes a task force, the task force shall include representatives from statewide trade associations that represent consumers, physicians, hospitals, law enforcement officers, and public and private first responders.
(c)If the authority establishes a task force, the report shall be published on the authority’s Internet Web
site.
