Bill Text: IL SB1644 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning emergency medical dispatchers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-26 - Referred to Assignments [SB1644 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-SB1644-Introduced.html

---

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 SB1644 Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Darren Bailey SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
210 ILCS 50/3.70
Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning emergency medical dispatchers.
LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b
A BILL FOR
SB1644 LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b
AN ACT concerning regulation.
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 Section 3.70 as follows:
(210 ILCS 50/3.70)
Sec. 3.70. Emergency Medical Dispatcher.
(a) "Emergency Medical Dispatcher" means a a person who
has successfully completed a training course in emergency
medical dispatching in accordance with rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, who accepts calls from the
public for emergency medical services and dispatches
designated emergency medical services personnel and vehicles.
The Emergency Medical Dispatcher must use the
Department-approved emergency medical dispatch priority
reference system (EMDPRS) protocol selected for use by its
agency and approved by its EMS medical director. This protocol
must be used by an emergency medical dispatcher in an
emergency medical dispatch agency to dispatch aid to medical
emergencies which includes systematized caller interrogation
questions; systematized prearrival support instructions; and
systematized coding protocols that match the dispatcher's
evaluation of the injury or illness severity with the vehicle

SB1644 - 2 - LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b
response mode and vehicle response configuration and includes
an appropriate training curriculum and testing process
consistent with the specific EMDPRS protocol used by the
emergency medical dispatch agency. Prearrival support
instructions shall be provided in a non-discriminatory manner
and shall be provided in accordance with the EMDPRS
established by the EMS medical director of the EMS system in
which the EMD operates. If the dispatcher operates under the
authority of an Emergency Telephone System Board established
under the Emergency Telephone System Act, the protocols shall
be established by such Board in consultation with the EMS
Medical Director.
(b) The Department shall have the authority and
responsibility to:
(1) Require licensure and relicensure of a person who
meets the training and other requirements as an emergency
medical dispatcher pursuant to this Act.
(2) Require licensure and relicensure of a person,
organization, or government agency that operates an
emergency medical dispatch agency that meets the minimum
standards prescribed by the Department for an emergency
medical dispatch agency pursuant to this Act.
(3) Prescribe minimum education and continuing
education requirements for the Emergency Medical
Dispatcher, which meet standards specified by rules
adopted pursuant to this Act.

SB1644 - 3 - LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b
(4) Require each EMS Medical Director to report to the
Department whenever an action has taken place that may
require the revocation or suspension of a license issued
by the Department.
(5) Require each EMD to provide prearrival
instructions in compliance with protocols selected and
approved by the system's EMS medical director and approved
by the Department.
(6) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to keep
the Department currently informed as to the entity or
agency that employs or supervises his activities as an
Emergency Medical Dispatcher.
(7) Establish an annual relicensure requirement that
requires medical dispatch-specific continuing education as
prescribed by the Department through rules adopted
pursuant to this Act.
(8) Approve all EMDPRS protocols used by emergency
medical dispatch agencies to assure compliance with
national standards.
(9) Require that Department-approved emergency medical
dispatch training programs are conducted in accordance
with national standards.
(10) Require that the emergency medical dispatch
agency be operated in accordance with national standards,
including, but not limited to, (i) the use on every
request for medical assistance of an emergency medical

SB1644 - 4 - LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b
dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) in accordance
with Department-approved policies and procedures and (ii)
under the approval and supervision of the EMS medical
director, the establishment of a continuous quality
improvement program.
(11) Require that a person may not represent himself
or herself, nor may an agency or business represent an
agent or employee of that agency or business, as an
emergency medical dispatcher unless licensed by the
Department as an emergency medical dispatcher.
(12) Require that a person, organization, or
government agency not represent itself as an emergency
medical dispatch agency unless the person, organization,
or government agency is certified by the Department as an
emergency medical dispatch agency.
(13) Require that a person, organization, or
government agency may not offer or conduct a training
course that is represented as a course for an emergency
medical dispatcher unless the person, organization, or
agency is approved by the Department to offer or conduct
that course.
(14) Require that Department-approved emergency
medical dispatcher training programs are conducted by
instructors licensed by the Department who:
(i) are, at a minimum, licensed as emergency
medical dispatchers;

SB1644 - 5 - LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b
(ii) have completed a Department-approved course
on methods of instruction;
(iii) have previous experience in a medical
dispatch agency; and
(iv) have demonstrated experience as an EMS
instructor.
(15) Establish criteria for modifying or waiving
Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements based on (i) the
scope and frequency of dispatch activities and the
dispatcher's access to training or (ii) whether the
previously-attended dispatcher training program merits
automatic relicensure for the dispatcher.
(16) Charge each Emergency Medical Dispatcher
applicant a fee for licensure and license renewal.
(c) The Department shall have the authority to suspend,
revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the license of an EMD when,
after notice and the opportunity for an impartial hearing, the
Department demonstrates that the licensee has violated this
Act, violated the rules adopted by the Department, or failed
to comply with the applicable standard of care.
(Source: P.A. 98-973, eff. 8-15-14.)