BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1660|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1660
Author: Salas (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe,
Pavley, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/5/10 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes
SOURCE : California Airports Council
DIGEST : This bill expands the definition of emergency
aircraft flights for medical purposes, to include the
return, non-emergency flights of aircraft or equipment used
during a medical emergency, or emergency personnel and
first responders involved in treating the medical
emergency, for the purpose of returning the aircraft or
equipment back to the base of operation.
ANALYSIS : Current federal law provides an exemption for
civilian air ambulance aircraft operating under a Federal
Aviation Administration "Lifeguard" call sign to land and
depart after hours at certain airports without being
subject to a fine. "Lifeguard" is a special radio call
CONTINUED
AB 1660
Page
2
sign used by air ambulances to receive special handling by
air traffic controllers. Any aircraft with a medical
emergency on board or a flight involving medical supplies,
vital organs, or blood products may use this call sign.
Existing law
1. Allows cities and counties by ordinance to regulate
aircraft flight departures and arrivals to particular
hours of the day or night, restrict the arrival or
departure of aircraft based upon the aircraft's noise
level, or restrict the operations of certain aircraft
type.
2. Defines "emergency aircraft flights for medical
purposes" as those flights in which undue delay would
threaten a patient's life. Emergency aircraft flights
for medical purposes include, but are not limited to,
flights for the transportation of the following:
A. Patients accompanied by licensed or certificated
medical attendants such as paramedics, nurses,
physicians, and respiratory therapists.
B. Surgical transplant teams for the purpose of
procuring human organs for re-implantation in
recipients.
C. Organ procurement agency coordinators responding
to a potential donor.
D. Temporarily viable human organs such as a heart,
liver, lungs, kidneys, and pancreas, and human
tissue, blood, or blood components.
E. Human tissue and blood samples for clinical
testing to determine compatibility between a donor
and a recipient.
F. Mechanical adjuncts or biological replacements
for human organs.
G. Medical equipment and supplies.
CONTINUED
AB 1660
Page
3
3. Prohibits using emergency aircraft flights for
transporting medical personnel to attend conferences,
seminars, or other similar non-emergency activities.
4. Requires the provider of the emergency aircraft flight
to notify an airport, governed by an ordinance
restricting operations, either within 72 hours before or
after the emergency flight of the following:
A. The name and address of the patient.
B. The names of the medical attendants on board the
flight.
C. The name of the attending physician, a signed
statement by the attending physician of the nature
of the emergency, and the name of the medical
facility to which the patient or organs will be
taken.
D. The names of all flight crew members and the
type and registration number of the aircraft.
These requirements do not apply to medical emergency
flights operated by law enforcement, firefighting
personnel, or the military.
This bill:
1. Adds to the definition of emergency aircraft flight for
medical purposes an emergency medical flight returning
to its home base during curfew hours with the health
professionals that accompanied patients or medical
products on the in-bound flight.
2. Prohibits emergency medical flight providers from
submitting information regarding patients, medical
attendants, and related information to the airport if
the collection of the information is barred by federal
law, including the terms and conditions of the
Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and
applicable regulations.
Background
CONTINUED
AB 1660
Page
4
A typical example that the author's office believes
necessitates this bill is an aircraft departs from its base
in Orange County at 1:00a.m. with an organ that is to be
delivered to San Diego. Both John Wayne Airport and
Lindbergh Field have curfews governing aircraft operations.
Existing law exempts the departure from Orange County and
the landing at San Diego because for both the landing and
departure a patient's life is at risk. There is legal
ambiguity, however, as to whether the aircraft may depart
during curfew hours to return to its home base after
delivering a patient or organ without incurring a penalty,
since there is no emergency involved with the return
flight. This bill removes that ambiguity for it makes it
clear that the air ambulance may return to its headquarters
without being assessed a fine or penalty. An additional
benefit is that the amendment reduces the layover charges
for the medical professionals, the aircraft's crew, and the
plane, because there is no delay waiting for the curfew to
be lifted.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/16/10)
California Airports Council (source)
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Association of California Airports
California Medical Association
California Pilots Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Emergency Medical Services Administrators' Association of
California
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
CONTINUED
AB 1660
Page
5
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Norby, Portantino, Vacancy
JJA:do 6/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED