Minnesota Session Laws - 2001, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 74-H.F.No. 1748 
                  An act relating to health; authorizing the emergency 
                  medical services regulatory board to grant temporary 
                  variances from staffing requirements for basic life 
                  support ambulances operated by certain ambulance 
                  services; exempting certain rural emergency medical 
                  training programs from certain requirements; amending 
                  Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 144E.101, 
                  subdivision 6; 144E.285, subdivision 2. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144E.101, 
        subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 6.  [BASIC LIFE SUPPORT.] (a) Except as provided in 
        paragraph (e), a basic life support ambulance shall be staffed 
        by at least two ambulance service personnel, at least one of 
        which must be an EMT, who 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) By January 1, 2001, a basic life support service shall 
        provide automatic defibrillation, as provided in section 
        144E.103, subdivision 1, paragraph (b).  
           (d) A basic life support service licensee's medical 
        director may authorize the ambulance service personnel to carry 
        and to use medical antishock trousers and to perform intravenous 
        infusion if the ambulance service personnel have been properly 
        trained. 
           (e) Upon application from an ambulance service that 
        includes evidence demonstrating hardship, the board may grant a 
        temporary variance from the staff requirements in paragraph (a) 
        and may authorize a basic life support ambulance to be staffed 
        by one EMT and one first responder.  The variance shall apply to 
        basic life support ambulances operated by the ambulance service 
        for up to one year from the date of the variance's issuance.  
        When a variance expires, an ambulance service may apply for a 
        new variance under this paragraph.  For purposes of this 
        paragraph, "ambulance service" means either an ambulance service 
        whose primary service area is 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 1,000. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144E.285, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [EMT-P REQUIREMENTS.] (a) In addition to the 
        requirements under subdivision 1, paragraph (b), a training 
        program applying for approval to teach EMT-P curriculum must be 
        administered by an educational institution accredited by the 
        Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs 
        (CAAHEP). 
           (b) An EMT-P training program that is administered by an 
        educational institution not accredited by CAAHEP, but that is in 
        the process of completing the accreditation process, may be 
        granted provisional approval by the board upon verification of 
        submission of its self-study report and the appropriate review 
        fee to CAAHEP. 
           (c) An educational institution that discontinues its 
        participation in the accreditation process must notify the board 
        immediately and provisional approval shall be withdrawn. 
           (d) This subdivision does not apply to an EMT-P training 
        program when the program is operated by an advanced life support 
        ambulance service licensed by the emergency medical services 
        regulatory board under this chapter, and the ambulance service 
        meets the following criteria: 
           (1) covers a rural primary service area that does not 
        contain a hospital within the primary service area or contains a 
        hospital within the primary service area that has been 
        designated as a critical access hospital under section 144.1483, 
        clause (11); 
           (2) has tax exempt status in accordance with the Internal 
        Revenue Code, section 501(c)(3); 
           (3) received approval before 1991 from the commissioner of 
        health to operate an EMT-P training program; 
           (4) operates the EMT-P training program exclusively to 
        train paramedics for the local ambulance service; and 
           (5) limits enrollment in the EMT-P training program to five 
        candidates per biennium. 
           Presented to the governor May 2, 2001 
           Signed by the governor May 4, 2001, 10:46 a.m.