2006 Minnesota Statutes

144E.001 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Scope. For the purposes of sections 144E.001 to 144E.52, the terms defined
in this section have the meanings given them.
    Subd. 1a. Advanced airway management. "Advanced airway management" means
insertion of an endotracheal tube or creation of a surgical airway.
    Subd. 1b. Advanced life support. "Advanced life support" means rendering basic life
support and rendering intravenous therapy, drug therapy, intubation, and defibrillation as outlined
in the United States Department of Transportation emergency medical technician-paramedic
curriculum or its equivalent, as approved by the board.
    Subd. 2. Ambulance. "Ambulance" means any vehicle designed or intended for and actually
used in providing ambulance service to ill or injured persons or expectant mothers.
    Subd. 3. Ambulance service. "Ambulance service" means transportation and treatment
which is rendered or offered to be rendered preliminary to or during transportation to, from, or
between health care facilities for ill or injured persons or expectant mothers. The term includes all
transportation involving the use of a stretcher, unless the person to be transported is not likely to
require medical treatment during the course of transport.
    Subd. 3a. Ambulance service personnel. "Ambulance service personnel" means individuals
who are authorized by a licensed ambulance service to provide emergency care for the ambulance
service and are:
(1) EMTs, EMT-Is, or EMT-Ps;
(2) Minnesota registered nurses who are: (i) EMTs, are currently practicing nursing, and
have passed a paramedic practical skills test, as approved by the board and administered by a
training program approved by the board; (ii) on the roster of an ambulance service on or before
January 1, 2000; or (iii) after petitioning the board, deemed by the board to have training and
skills equivalent to an EMT, as determined on a case-by-case basis; or
(3) Minnesota registered physician assistants who are: (i) EMTs, are currently practicing as
physician assistants, and have passed a paramedic practical skills test, as approved by the board
and administered by a training program approved by the board; (ii) on the roster of an ambulance
service on or before January 1, 2000; or (iii) after petitioning the board, deemed by the board to
have training and skills equivalent to an EMT, as determined on a case-by-case basis.
    Subd. 4. Base of operations. "Base of operations" means the address at which the physical
plant housing ambulances, related equipment, and personnel is located.
    Subd. 4a. Basic airway management. "Basic airway management" means:
(1) resuscitation by mouth-to-mouth, mouth-to-mask, bag valve mask, or oxygen powered
ventilators; or
(2) insertion of an oropharyngeal, nasal pharyngeal, esophageal obturator airway, esophageal
tracheal airway, or esophageal gastric tube airway.
    Subd. 4b. Basic life support. "Basic life support" means rendering basic-level emergency
care, including, but not limited to, basic airway management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation,
controlling shock and bleeding, and splinting fractures, as outlined in the United States
Department of Transportation emergency medical technician-basic curriculum or its equivalent,
as approved by the board.
    Subd. 5. Board. "Board" means the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board.
    Subd. 5a. Clinical training site. "Clinical training site" means a licensed health care facility.
    Subd. 5b. Defibrillator. "Defibrillator" means an automatic, semiautomatic, or manual
device that delivers an electric shock at a preset voltage to the myocardium through the chest
wall and that is used to restore the normal cardiac rhythm and rate when the heart has stopped
beating or is fibrillating.
    Subd. 5c. Emergency medical technician or EMT. "Emergency medical technician"
or "EMT" means a person who has successfully completed the United States Department of
Transportation emergency medical technician-basic course or its equivalent, as approved by the
board, and has been issued valid certification by the board.
    Subd. 5d. Emergency medical technician-intermediate or EMT-I. "Emergency medical
technician-intermediate" or "EMT-I" means a person who has successfully completed the United
States Department of Transportation emergency medical technician-intermediate course or its
equivalent, as approved by the board, and has been issued valid certification by the board.
    Subd. 5e. Emergency medical technician-paramedic or EMT-P. "Emergency medical
technician-paramedic" or "EMT-P" means a person who has successfully completed the United
States Department of Transportation emergency medical technician course-paramedic or its
equivalent, as approved by the board, and has been issued valid certification by the board.
    Subd. 6. First responder. "First responder" means an individual who is registered by the
board to perform, at a minimum, basic emergency skills before the arrival of a licensed ambulance
service, and is a member of an organized service recognized by a local political subdivision whose
primary responsibility is to respond to medical emergencies to provide initial medical care before
the arrival of a licensed ambulance service.
    Subd. 7. License. "License" means authority granted by the board for the operation of an
ambulance service in the state of Minnesota.
    Subd. 8. Licensee. "Licensee" means a natural person, partnership, association, corporation,
Indian tribe, or unit of government which possesses an ambulance service license.
    Subd. 8a. Medical control. "Medical control" means direction by a physician or a physician's
designee of out-of-hospital emergency medical care.
    Subd. 9. Municipality. "Municipality" means any city of any class, however organized,
and any town.
    Subd. 9a. Part-time advanced life support. "Part-time advanced life support" means
rendering basic life support and advanced life support for less than 24 hours of every day.
    Subd. 9b. Physician. "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine under
chapter 147.
    Subd. 9c. Physician assistant. "Physician assistant" means a person registered to practice
as a physician assistant under chapter 147A.
    Subd. 9d. Prehospital care data. "Prehospital care data" means information collected by
ambulance service personnel about the circumstances related to an emergency response and
patient care activities provided by the ambulance service personnel in a prehospital setting.
    Subd. 10. Primary service area. "Primary service area" means the geographic area that can
reasonably be served by an ambulance service.
    Subd. 11. Program medical director. "Program medical director" means a physician who
is responsible for ensuring an accurate and thorough presentation of the medical content of an
emergency care training program; certifying that each student has successfully completed the
training course; and in conjunction with the program coordinator, planning the clinical training.
    Subd. 12. Registered nurse. "Registered nurse" means a person licensed to practice
professional nursing under chapter 148.
    Subd. 13. Standing order. "Standing order" means a type of medical protocol that provides
specific, written orders for actions, techniques, or drug administration when communication has
not been established for direct medical control.
    Subd. 14. Training program coordinator. "Training program coordinator" means an
individual who serves as the administrator of an emergency care training program and who
is responsible for planning, conducting, and evaluating the program; selecting students and
instructors; documenting and maintaining records; developing a curriculum; and assisting in the
coordination of examination sessions and clinical training.
    Subd. 14a. Tribe. "Tribe" means a federally recognized Indian tribe, as defined in United
States Code, title 25, section 450b, paragraph (e), located within the state of Minnesota.
    Subd. 15. Volunteer ambulance attendant. "Volunteer ambulance attendant" means a
person who provides emergency medical services for a Minnesota licensed ambulance service
without the expectation of remuneration and who does not depend in any way upon the provision
of these services for the person's livelihood. An individual may be considered a volunteer
ambulance attendant even though the individual receives an hourly stipend for each hour of actual
service provided, except for hours on standby alert, or other nominal fee, and even though the
hourly stipend or other nominal fee is regarded as taxable income for purposes of state or federal
law, provided that the hourly stipend and other nominal fees do not exceed $6,000 annually.
History: 1997 c 199 s 1; 1999 c 8 s 1; 1999 c 245 art 9 s 4-22; 2005 c 147 art 10 s 1-3