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2005 SESSION

051738440
HOUSE BILL NO. 2238
Offered January 12, 2005
Prefiled January 11, 2005
A BILL to amend and reenact § 32.1-111.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Board of Health regulations; emergency medical services personnel training, agency response times, and enforcement provisions; civil penalties.
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Patrons-- O'Bannon and Athey
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Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 32.1-111.4 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 32.1-111.4. Regulations; emergency medical services personnel and vehicles; response times; enforcement provisions; civil penalties.

A. The State Board of Health shall prescribe by regulation:

1. Requirements for record keeping, supplies, operating procedures and other agency operations;

2. Requirements for the sanitation and maintenance of emergency medical services vehicles and their medical supplies and equipment;

3. Procedures, including the requirements for forms, to authorize qualified emergency medical services personnel to follow Do Not Resuscitate Orders pursuant to § 54.1-2987.1;

4. Requirements for the composition, administration, duties and responsibilities of the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board;

5. Requirements, developed in consultation with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, governing the training, certification, and recertification of emergency medical services personnel;

6. Requirements for written notification to the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, the State Office of Emergency Medical Services, and the Financial Assistance and Review Committee of the Board's action, and the reasons therefor, on requests and recommendations of the Advisory Board, the State Office of Emergency Medical Services or the Committee, no later than five workdays after reaching its decision, specifying whether the Board has approved, denied, or not acted on such requests and recommendations; and

7. Authorization procedures, developed in consultation with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, which allow the possession and administration of epinephrine or a medically accepted equivalent for emergency cases of anaphylactic shock by certain levels of certified emergency medical services personnel as authorized by § 54.1-3408;

8. A uniform definition of "response time" and requirements, developed in consultation with the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, for each agency to measure response times starting from the time a call for emergency medical care is received until the time an appropriate emergency medical response unit arrives on the scene, and requirements for agencies to collect and report such data to the Director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services who shall compile such information and make it available to the public, upon request; and

9. Enforcement provisions, including, but not limited to, fines that the Commissioner may assess against any person, agency, or other entity found to be in violation of any of the provisions of this article or any regulation promulgated under this article. Such provisions shall be subject to the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.).

B. The Board shall classify agencies and emergency medical services vehicles by type of service rendered and shall specify the medical equipment, the supplies, the vehicle specifications and the personnel required for each classification.

C. In formulating its regulations, the Board shall consider the current Minimal Equipment List for Ambulances adopted by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons.