HB 241

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to emergency medical services;
3	amending s. 381.0034, F.S.; deleting the requirement
4	for emergency medical technicians and paramedics to
5	complete an educational course on the modes of
6	transmission, infection control procedures, clinical
7	management, and prevention of human immunodeficiency
8	virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome;
9	amending s. 401.23, F.S.; redefining the term "basic
10	life support" for purposes of the Raymond H.
11	Alexander, M.D., Emergency Medical Transportation
12	Services Act; amending s. 401.24, F.S.; revising the
13	period for review of the comprehensive state plan for
14	emergency medical services and programs; amending s.
15	401.27, F.S.; revising the requirements for
16	certification or recertification as an emergency
17	medical technician or paramedic; revising the
18	requirements for certification for an out-of-state
19	trained emergency medical technician or paramedic;
20	amending s. 401.2701, F.S.; revising requirements for
21	an institution that conducts an approved program for
22	the education of emergency medical technicians and
23	paramedics; revising the requirements that students
24	must meet in order to receive a certificate of
25	completion from an approved program; providing an
26	effective date.
27
28	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30	Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 381.0034, Florida
31	Statutes, is amended to read:
32	381.0034  Requirement for instruction on HIV and AIDS.-
33	(1)  As of July 1, 1991, the Department of Health shall
34	require each person licensed or certified under chapter 401,
35	chapter 467, part IV of chapter 468, or chapter 483, as a
36	condition of biennial relicensure, to complete an educational
37	course approved by the department on the modes of transmission,
38	infection control procedures, clinical management, and
39	prevention of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune
40	deficiency syndrome. Such course shall include information on
41	current state Florida law on acquired immune deficiency syndrome
42	and its impact on testing, confidentiality of test results, and
43	treatment of patients. Each such licensee or certificateholder
44	shall submit confirmation of having completed the said course,
45	on a form provided by the department, when submitting fees or
46	application for each biennial renewal.
47	Section 2.  Subsection (7) of section 401.23, Florida
48	Statutes, is amended to read:
49	401.23  Definitions.-As used in this part, the term:
50	(7)  "Basic life support" means treatment of medical
51	emergencies by a qualified person through the use of techniques
52	such as patient assessment, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),
53	splinting, obstetrical assistance, bandaging, administration of
54	oxygen, application of medical antishock trousers,
55	administration of a subcutaneous injection using a premeasured
56	autoinjector of epinephrine to a person suffering an
57	anaphylactic reaction, and other techniques described in the
58	Emergency Medical Technician Basic Training Course Curriculum or
59	the National EMS Education Standards of the United States
60	Department of Transportation as approved by the department. The
61	term "basic life support" also includes other techniques that
62	which have been approved and are performed under conditions
63	specified by rules of the department.
64	Section 3.  Section 401.24, Florida Statutes, is amended to
65	read:
66	401.24  Emergency medical services state plan.-The
67	department is responsible, at a minimum, for the improvement and
68	regulation of basic and advanced life support programs. The
69	department shall develop, and biennially revise every 5 years, a
70	comprehensive state plan for basic and advanced life support
71	services, the emergency medical services grants program, trauma
72	centers, the injury control program, and medical disaster
73	preparedness. The state plan shall include, but need not be
74	limited to:
75	(1)  Emergency medical systems planning, including the
76	prehospital and hospital phases of patient care, and injury
77	control effort and unification of such services into a total
78	delivery system to include air, water, and land services.
79	(2)  Requirements for the operation, coordination, and
80	ongoing development of emergency medical services, which
81	includes: basic life support or advanced life support vehicles,
82	equipment, and supplies; communications; personnel; training;
83	public education; state trauma system; injury control; and other
84	medical care components.
85	(3)  The definition of areas of responsibility for
86	regulating and planning the ongoing and developing delivery
87	service requirements.
88	Section 4.  Subsections (4) and (12) of section 401.27,
89	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
90	401.27  Personnel; standards and certification.-
91	(4)  An applicant for certification or recertification as
92	an emergency medical technician or paramedic must:
93	(a)  Have completed an appropriate training course as
94	follows:
95	1.  For an emergency medical technician, an emergency
96	medical technician training course equivalent to the most recent
97	National EMS Education Standards emergency medical technician
98	basic training course of the United States Department of
99	Transportation as approved by the department;
100	2.  For a paramedic, a paramedic training program
101	equivalent to the most recent national standard curriculum or
102	National EMS Education Standards paramedic course of the United
103	States Department of Transportation as approved by the
104	department;
105	(b)  Certify under oath that he or she is not addicted to
106	alcohol or any controlled substance;
107	(c)  Certify under oath that he or she is free from any
108	physical or mental defect or disease that might impair the
109	applicant's ability to perform his or her duties;
110	(d)  Within 2 years 1 year after course completion have
111	passed an examination developed or required by the department;
112	(e)1.  For an emergency medical technician, hold either a
113	current American Heart Association cardiopulmonary resuscitation
114	course card or an American Red Cross cardiopulmonary
115	resuscitation course card or its equivalent as defined by
116	department rule;
117	2.  For a paramedic, hold a certificate of successful
118	course completion in advanced cardiac life support from the
119	American Heart Association or its equivalent as defined by
120	department rule;
121	(f)  Submit the certification fee and the nonrefundable
122	examination fee prescribed in s. 401.34, which examination fee
123	will be required for each examination administered to an
124	applicant; and
125	(g)  Submit a completed application to the department,
126	which application documents compliance with paragraphs (a), (b),
127	(c), (e), (f), (g), and, if applicable, (d). The application
128	must be submitted so as to be received by the department at
129	least 30 calendar days before the next regularly scheduled
130	examination for which the applicant desires to be scheduled.
131	(12)  An applicant for certification who is an out-of-state
132	trained emergency medical technician or paramedic must provide
133	proof of current emergency medical technician or paramedic
134	certification or registration based upon successful completion
135	of the United States Department of Transportation emergency
136	medical technician or paramedic training curriculum or the
137	National EMS Education Standards as approved by the department
138	and hold a current certificate of successful course completion
139	in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or advanced cardiac life
140	support for emergency medical technicians or paramedics,
141	respectively, to be eligible for the certification examination.
142	The applicant must successfully complete the certification
143	examination within 1 year after the date of the receipt of his
144	or her application by the department. After 1 year, the
145	applicant must submit a new application, meet all eligibility
146	requirements, and submit all fees to reestablish eligibility to
147	take the certification examination.
148	Section 5.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
149	(5) of section 401.2701, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
150	401.2701  Emergency medical services training programs.-
151	(1)  Any private or public institution in Florida desiring
152	to conduct an approved program for the education of emergency
153	medical technicians and paramedics shall:
154	(a)  Submit a completed application on a form provided by
155	the department, which must include:
156	1.  Evidence that the institution is in compliance with all
157	applicable requirements of the Department of Education.
158	2.  Evidence of an affiliation agreement with a hospital
159	that has an emergency department staffed by at least one
160	physician and one registered nurse.
161	3.  Evidence of an affiliation agreement with a current
162	Florida-licensed emergency medical services provider that is
163	licensed in this state. Such agreement shall include, at a
164	minimum, a commitment by the provider to conduct the field
165	experience portion of the education program.
166	4.  Documentation verifying faculty, including:
167	a.  A medical director who is a licensed physician meeting
168	the applicable requirements for emergency medical services
169	medical directors as outlined in this chapter and rules of the
170	department. The medical director shall have the duty and
171	responsibility of certifying that graduates have successfully
172	completed all phases of the education program and are proficient
173	in basic or advanced life support techniques, as applicable.
174	b.  A program director responsible for the operation,
175	organization, periodic review, administration, development, and
176	approval of the program.
177	5.  Documentation verifying that the curriculum:
178	a.  Meets the course guides and instructor's lesson plans
179	in the most recent Emergency Medical Technician-Basic National
180	Standard Curricula or the National EMS Education Standards for
181	emergency medical technician programs and paramedic Emergency
182	Medical Technician-Paramedic National Standard Curricula for
183	paramedic programs as approved by the department.
184	b.  Includes 2 hours of instruction on the trauma scorecard
185	methodologies for assessment of adult trauma patients and
186	pediatric trauma patients as specified by the department by
187	rule.
188	c.  Includes 4 hours of instruction on HIV/AIDS training
189	consistent with the requirements of chapter 381.
190	6.  Evidence of sufficient medical and educational
191	equipment to meet emergency medical services training program
192	needs.
193	(5)  Each approved program must notify the department
194	within 30 days after of any change in the professional or
195	employment status of faculty. Each approved program must require
196	its students to pass a comprehensive final written and practical
197	examination evaluating the skills described in the current
198	United States Department of Transportation EMT-Basic or EMT-
199	Paramedic, National Standard Curriculum or the National EMS
200	Education Standards as approved by the department. Each approved
201	program must issue a certificate of completion to program
202	graduates within 14 days after of completion.
203	Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.