CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1276

Chapter 69, Laws of 2021

67TH LEGISLATURE

2021 REGULAR SESSION

EMERGENCY SERVICES SUPERVISORY ORGANIZATIONS

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 25, 2021

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1276

ByHouse Health Care & Wellness (originally sponsored by Representatives Bronoske, Lovick, Fitzgibbon, Cody, Hackney, Fey, Macri, Leavitt, Ormsby, Harris-Talley, and Stonier; by request of Department of Health)

AN ACT Relating to providing for certain emergency medical services personnel to work in diversion centers; and amending RCW 18.73.030 and 18.73.130.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 18.73.030 and 2015 c 93 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Advanced life support" means invasive emergency medical services requiring advanced medical treatment skills as defined by chapter 18.71 RCW.

(2) "Aid service" means an organization that operates one or more aid vehicles.

(3) "Aid vehicle" means a vehicle used to carry aid equipment and individuals trained in first aid or emergency medical procedure.

(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) "Ambulance service" means an organization that operates one or more ambulances.

(6) "Basic life support" means noninvasive emergency medical services requiring basic medical treatment skills as defined in this chapter (( 18.73 RCW)).

(7) "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.

(8) "Council" means the local or regional emergency medical services and trauma care council as authorized under chapter 70.168 RCW.

(9) "Department" means the department of health.

(10) "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.

(11) "Emergency medical services medical program director" means a person who is an approved medical program director as defined by RCW 18.71.205(4).

(12) "Emergency medical technician" means a person who is authorized by the secretary to render emergency medical care pursuant to RCW 18.73.081 or, under the responsible supervision and direction of an approved medical program director, to participate in an emergency services supervisory organization or a community assistance referral and education services program established under RCW 35.21.930 if the participation does not exceed the participant's training and certification.

(13) "Emergency services supervisory organization" means an entity that is authorized by the secretary to use certified emergency medical services personnel to provide medical evaluation or initial treatment, or both, to sick or injured people, while in the course of duties with the organization for on-site medical care prior to any necessary activation of emergency medical services. Emergency services supervisory organizations include law enforcement agencies, disaster management organizations, search and rescue operations, diversion centers, and businesses with organized industrial safety teams.

(14) "First responder" means a person who is authorized by the secretary to render emergency medical care as defined by RCW 18.73.081.

(((14)))(15) "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.

(((15)))(16) "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.

(((16)))(17) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of health.

(((17)))(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.

Sec. 2. RCW 18.73.130 and 2000 c 93 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:

An ambulance service or aid service may not operate in the state of Washington without holding a license for such operation, issued by the secretary when such operation is consistent with the statewide and regional emergency medical services and trauma care plans established pursuant to chapter 70.168 RCW, indicating the general area to be served and the number of vehicles to be used, with the following exceptions:

(1) The United States government;

(2) Ambulance services providing service in other states when bringing patients into this state;

(3) Owners of businesses in which ambulance or aid vehicles are used exclusively on company property but occasionally in emergencies may transport patients to hospitals not on company property; ((and))

(4) Operators of vehicles pressed into service for transportation of patients in emergencies when licensed ambulances are not available or cannot meet overwhelming demand; and

(5) Emergency services supervisory organizations, as defined in RCW 18.73.030(13). All entities that employ certified emergency medical services personnel must ensure that such personnel work under the medical oversight and protocols of a medical program director and within their scope of practice, are able to meet certification training requirements, and are provided with necessary medical equipment to provide care at their level of certification.

The license shall be valid for a period of two years and shall be renewed on request provided the holder has consistently complied with the regulations of the department and the department of licensing and provided also that the needs of the area served have been met satisfactorily. The license shall not be transferable and may be revoked if the service is found in violation of rules adopted by the department.

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