Bill Text: IL HB3255 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act to provide that an EMT who is an Illinois State Trooper may submit an application to the Department of Public Health for a waiver of certain fees.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)

Status: (Passed) 2011-08-23 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 97-0509 [HB3255 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB3255-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning health facilities.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act
is amended by changing Sections 3.50 and 3.60 as follows:
(210 ILCS 50/3.50)
Sec. 3.50. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Licensure.
(a) "Emergency Medical Technician-Basic" or "EMT-B" means
a person who has successfully completed a course of instruction
in basic life support as prescribed by the Department, is
currently licensed by the Department in accordance with
standards prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, and practices within an EMS
System.
(b) "Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate" or "EMT-I"
means a person who has successfully completed a course of
instruction in intermediate life support as prescribed by the
Department, is currently licensed by the Department in
accordance with standards prescribed by this Act and rules
adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act, and practices
within an Intermediate or Advanced Life Support EMS System.
(c) "Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic" or "EMT-P"
means a person who has successfully completed a course of

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instruction in advanced life support care as prescribed by the
Department, is licensed by the Department in accordance with
standards prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, and practices within an
Advanced Life Support EMS System.
(d) The Department shall have the authority and
responsibility to:
(1) Prescribe education and training requirements,
which includes training in the use of epinephrine, for all
levels of EMT, based on the respective national curricula
of the United States Department of Transportation and any
modifications to such curricula specified by the
Department through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(2) Prescribe licensure testing requirements for all
levels of EMT, which shall include a requirement that all
phases of instruction, training, and field experience be
completed before taking the EMT licensure examination.
Candidates may elect to take the National Registry of
Emergency Medical Technicians examination in lieu of the
Department's examination, but are responsible for making
their own arrangements for taking the National Registry
examination.
(2.5) Review applications for EMT licensure from
honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the
United States with military emergency medical training.
Applications shall be filed with the Department within one

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year after military discharge and shall contain: (i) proof
of successful completion of military emergency medical
training; (ii) a detailed description of the emergency
medical curriculum completed; and (iii) a detailed
description of the applicant's clinical experience. The
Department may request additional and clarifying
information. The Department shall evaluate the
application, including the applicant's training and
experience, consistent with the standards set forth under
subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 3.10. If the
application clearly demonstrates that the training and
experience meets such standards, the Department shall
offer the applicant the opportunity to successfully
complete a Department-approved EMT examination for which
the applicant is qualified. Upon passage of an examination,
the Department shall issue a license, which shall be
subject to all provisions of this Act that are otherwise
applicable to the class of EMT license issued.
(3) License individuals as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P
who have met the Department's education, training and
examination requirements.
(4) Prescribe annual continuing education and
relicensure requirements for all levels of EMT.
(5) Relicense individuals as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P
every 4 years, based on their compliance with continuing
education and relicensure requirements. An Illinois

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licensed Emergency Medical Technician whose license has
been expired for less than 36 months may apply for
reinstatement by the Department. Reinstatement shall
require that the applicant (i) submit satisfactory proof of
completion of continuing medical education and clinical
requirements to be prescribed by the Department in an
administrative rule; (ii) submit a positive recommendation
from an Illinois EMS Medical Director attesting to the
applicant's qualifications for retesting; and (iii) pass a
Department approved test for the level of EMT license
sought to be reinstated.
(6) Grant inactive status to any EMT who qualifies,
based on standards and procedures established by the
Department in rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(7) Charge a fee for EMT examination, licensure, and
license renewal.
(8) Suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the
license of any licensee, after an opportunity for an
impartial hearing before a neutral administrative law
judge appointed by the Director, where the preponderance of
the evidence shows one or more of the following:
(A) The licensee has not met continuing education
or relicensure requirements as prescribed by the
Department;
(B) The licensee has failed to maintain
proficiency in the level of skills for which he or she

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is licensed;
(C) The licensee, during the provision of medical
services, engaged in dishonorable, unethical, or
unprofessional conduct of a character likely to
deceive, defraud, or harm the public;
(D) The licensee has failed to maintain or has
violated standards of performance and conduct as
prescribed by the Department in rules adopted pursuant
to this Act or his or her EMS System's Program Plan;
(E) The licensee is physically impaired to the
extent that he or she cannot physically perform the
skills and functions for which he or she is licensed,
as verified by a physician, unless the person is on
inactive status pursuant to Department regulations;
(F) The licensee is mentally impaired to the extent
that he or she cannot exercise the appropriate
judgment, skill and safety for performing the
functions for which he or she is licensed, as verified
by a physician, unless the person is on inactive status
pursuant to Department regulations;
(G) The licensee has violated this Act or any rule
adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act; or
(H) The licensee has been convicted (or entered a
plea of guilty or nolo-contendere) by a court of
competent jurisdiction of a Class X, Class 1, or Class
2 felony in this State or an out-of-state equivalent

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offense.
(9) An EMT who exclusively serves as a volunteer for
units of local government with a population base of less
than 5,000 or as a volunteer for a not-for-profit
organization that serves a service area with a population
base of less than 5,000 may submit an application to the
Department for a waiver of these fees on a form prescribed
by the Department.
The education requirements prescribed by the Department
under this subsection must allow for the suspension of those
requirements in the case of a member of the armed services or
reserve forces of the United States or a member of the Illinois
National Guard who is on active duty pursuant to an executive
order of the President of the United States, an act of the
Congress of the United States, or an order of the Governor at
the time that the member would otherwise be required to fulfill
a particular education requirement. Such a person must fulfill
the education requirement within 6 months after his or her
release from active duty.
(e) In the event that any rule of the Department or an EMS
Medical Director that requires testing for drug use as a
condition for EMT licensure conflicts with or duplicates a
provision of a collective bargaining agreement that requires
testing for drug use, that rule shall not apply to any person
covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(Source: P.A. 96-540, eff. 8-17-09; 96-1149, eff. 7-21-10;

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96-1469, eff. 1-1-11; revised 9-16-10.)
(210 ILCS 50/3.60)
Sec. 3.60. First Responder.
(a) "First Responder" means a person who has successfully
completed a course of instruction in emergency first response
as prescribed by the Department, who provides first response
services prior to the arrival of an ambulance or specialized
emergency medical services vehicle, in accordance with the
level of care established in the emergency first response
course. A First Responder who provides such services as part of
an EMS System response plan which utilizes First Responders as
the personnel dispatched to the scene of an emergency to
provide initial emergency medical care shall comply with the
applicable sections of the Program Plan of that EMS System.
Persons who have already completed a course of instruction
in emergency first response based on or equivalent to the
national curriculum of the United States Department of
Transportation, or as otherwise previously recognized by the
Department, shall be considered First Responders on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995.
(b) The Department shall have the authority and
responsibility to:
(1) Prescribe education requirements for the First
Responder, which meet or exceed the national curriculum of
the United States Department of Transportation, through

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rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(2) Prescribe a standard set of equipment for use
during first response services. An individual First
Responder shall not be required to maintain his or her own
set of such equipment, provided he or she has access to
such equipment during a first response call.
(3) Require the First Responder to notify the
Department of any EMS System in which he or she
participates as dispatched personnel as described in
subsection (a).
(4) Require the First Responder to comply with the
applicable sections of the Program Plans for those Systems.
(5) Require the First Responder to keep the Department
currently informed as to who employs him or her and who
supervises his or her activities as a First Responder.
(6) Establish a mechanism for phasing in the First
Responder requirements over a 5-year period.
(7) Charge each First Responder applicant a fee for
testing, initial licensure, and license renewal. A First
Responder who exclusively serves as a volunteer for units
of local government or a not-for-profit organization that
serves a service area with a population base of less than
5,000 may submit an application to the Department for a
waiver of these fees on a form prescribed by the
Department. These fees shall not apply to officers of the
Illinois State Police who are First Responders pursuant to

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their employment.
(Source: P.A. 96-1469, eff. 1-1-11.)