HF 423

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 01/29/2015 01:49pm

A bill for an act
relating to health; eliminating the requirement of a variance for a staff
requirement for ambulance services; allowing a medical director of an ambulance
service to authorize certain staffing requirements in limited areas; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144E.101, subdivision 6.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 144E.101, subdivision 6, is amended to
read:

Subd. 6.

Basic life support.

(a) Except as provided in deleted text begin paragraphs deleted text end new text begin paragraph new text end (e) deleted text begin and
(f) deleted text end , a basic life-support ambulance shall be staffed by at least two EMTs, one of whom
must accompany the patient and provide a level of care so as to ensure that:

(1) life-threatening situations and potentially serious injuries are recognized;

(2) patients are protected from additional hazards;

(3) basic treatment to reduce the seriousness of emergency situations is administered;
and

(4) patients are transported to an appropriate medical facility for treatment.

(b) A basic life-support service shall provide basic airway management.

(c) A basic life-support service shall provide automatic defibrillation.

(d) A basic life-support service licensee's medical director may authorize ambulance
service personnel to perform intravenous infusion and use equipment that is within the
licensure level of the ambulance service, including administration of an opiate antagonist.
Ambulance service personnel must be properly trained. Documentation of authorization
for use, guidelines for use, continuing education, and skill verification must be maintained
in the licensee's files.

(e) deleted text begin Upon application from deleted text end An ambulance service deleted text begin that includes evidence
demonstrating hardship, the board may grant a variance from the staff requirements in
paragraph (a) and deleted text end new text begin medical director as defined in section 144E.265 new text end may authorize a basic
life-support ambulance new text begin under the medical director's medical direction new text end to be staffed by
one EMT and one registered emergency medical responder driver for all emergency
ambulance calls and interfacility transfers. deleted text begin The variance shall apply to basic life-support
ambulances operated by the ambulance service until the ambulance service renews its
license. When a variance expires, an ambulance service may apply for a new variance
under this paragraph. deleted text end For purposes of this paragraph, "ambulance service" means
either an ambulance service whose primary service area is mainly located outside the
metropolitan counties listed in section 473.121, subdivision 4, and outside the cities of
Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud; or an ambulance service based in
a community with a population of less than deleted text begin 1,000 deleted text end new text begin 2,500 new text end .

deleted text begin (f) After an initial emergency ambulance call, each subsequent emergency ambulance
response, until the initial ambulance is again available, and interfacility transfers, may
be staffed by one registered emergency medical responder driver and an EMT. The
EMT must accompany the patient and provide the level of care required in paragraph
(a). This paragraph applies only to an ambulance service whose primary service area is
mainly located outside the metropolitan counties listed in section 473.121, subdivision
4, and outside the cities of Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud, or an
ambulance based in a community with a population of less than 1,000 persons.
deleted text end