Read first time 01/22/2004.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to specialized commercial vehicles used for patient transportation; amending RCW 18.73.030; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that requiring all patients who need to travel in a prone or supine position but are medically stable, to be transported by ambulance can be overly restrictive to individuals with disabilities. These individuals frequently travel by means of reclining wheelchairs or devices commonly referred to as banana carts. Expanding travel options for these individuals will give them greater opportunities for mobility and reduce their costs of travel.

Sec. 2   RCW 18.73.030 and 2000 c 93 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
     Unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, the following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall have the meanings indicated.
     (1) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of health.
     (2) "Department" means the department of health.
     (3) "Committee" means the emergency medical services licensing and certification advisory committee.
     (4) "Ambulance" means a ground or air vehicle designed and used to transport the ill and injured and to provide personnel, facilities, and equipment to treat patients before and during transportation.
     (5) "Aid vehicle" means a vehicle used to carry aid equipment and individuals trained in first aid or emergency medical procedure.
     (6) "Emergency medical technician" means a person who is authorized by the secretary to render emergency medical care pursuant to RCW 18.73.081.
     (7) "Ambulance service" means an organization that operates one or more ambulances.
     (8) "Aid service" means an organization that operates one or more aid vehicles.
     (9) "Emergency medical service" means medical treatment and care which may be rendered at the scene of any medical emergency or while transporting any patient in an ambulance to an appropriate medical facility, including ambulance transportation between medical facilities.
     (10) "Communications system" means a radio and landline network which provides rapid public access, coordinated central dispatching of services, and coordination of personnel, equipment, and facilities in an emergency medical services and trauma care system.
     (11) "Prehospital patient care protocols" means the written procedure adopted by the emergency medical services medical program director which direct the out-of-hospital emergency care of the emergency patient which includes the trauma care patient. These procedures shall be based upon the assessment of the patient's medical needs and what treatment will be provided for emergency conditions. The protocols shall meet or exceed statewide minimum standards developed by the department in rule as authorized in chapter 70.168 RCW.
     (12) "Patient care procedures" means written operating guidelines adopted by the regional emergency medical services and trauma care council, in consultation with the local emergency medical services and trauma care councils, emergency communication centers, and the emergency medical services medical program director, in accordance with statewide minimum standards. The patient care procedures shall identify the level of medical care personnel to be dispatched to an emergency scene, procedures for triage of patients, the level of trauma care facility to first receive the patient, and the name and location of other trauma care facilities to receive the patient should an interfacility transfer be necessary. Procedures on interfacility transfer of patients shall be consistent with the transfer procedures in chapter 70.170 RCW.
     (13) "Emergency medical services medical program director" means a person who is an approved medical program director as defined by RCW 18.71.205(4).
     (14) "Council" means the local or regional emergency medical services and trauma care council as authorized under chapter 70.168 RCW.
     (15) "Basic life support" means noninvasive emergency medical services requiring basic medical treatment skills as defined in chapter 18.73 RCW.
     (16) "Advanced life support" means invasive emergency medical services requiring advanced medical treatment skills as defined by chapter 18.71 RCW.
     (17) "First responder" means a person who is authorized by the secretary to render emergency medical care as defined by RCW 18.73.081.
     (18) "Stretcher" means a cart designed to serve as a litter for the transportation of a patient in a prone or supine position as is commonly used in the ambulance industry, such as wheeled stretchers, portable stretchers, stair chairs, solid backboards, scoop stretchers, basket stretchers, or flexible stretchers. The term does not include personal mobility aids that recline at an angle or remain at a flat position, that are owned or leased for a period of at least one week by the individual using the equipment or the individual's guardian or representative, such as wheelchairs, personal gurneys, or banana carts.