Amended in Senate July 1, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 704

Introduced by Assembly begin delete Member end delete begin insert Members end insert Blumenfield begin insert and Fong end insert

February 21, 2013

An act to amend Sections 1797.170, 1797.171, and 1797.172 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to emergency medical services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 704, as amended, Blumenfield. Emergency medical services: military experience.

Under the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, the Emergency Medical Services Authority is responsible for establishing minimum standards and promulgating regulations for the training and scope of practice for an emergency medical technician (EMT-I), an advanced emergency medical technician (EMT-II), and an emergency medical technician-paramedic (EMT-P) certified or licensed, as applicable, under the act.

This bill would require the authority to develop and adopt regulations to, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence, accept the education, training, and practical experience completed by an applicant with military experience toward the qualifications and requirements for EMT-I certification, EMT-II certification, or EMT-P licensure, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 1797.170 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

1797.170.  

(a) The authority shall develop and, after approval
by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50, adopt regulations
for the training and scope of practice for EMT-I certification.

(b) No later than January 1, 2015, the authority shall develop
and, after approval by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50,
adopt regulations to, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence
by an applicant for certification, accept the education, training,
and practical experience completed by an applicant as a member
of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Military
Reserve, the National Guard of any state, or the Naval Militia of
any state toward the qualifications and requirements for EMT-I
certification.

(c) Any individual certified as an EMT-I pursuant to this division
shall be recognized as an EMT-I on a statewide basis, and
recertification shall be based on statewide standards. Effective
July 1, 1990, any individual certified as an EMT-I pursuant to this
act shall complete a course of training on the nature of sudden
infant death syndrome which is developed by the California SIDS
program in the State Department of Public Health in consultation
with experts in the field of sudden infant death syndrome.

SEC. 2.  

Section 1797.171 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

1797.171.  

(a)  The authority shall develop, and after approval
of the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50, shall adopt,
minimum standards for the training and scope of practice for
EMT-II.

(b) No later than January 1, 2015, the authority shall develop
and, after approval by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50,
adopt regulations to, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence
by an applicant for certification, accept the education, training,
and practical experience completed by an applicant as a member
of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Military
Reserve, the National Guard of any state, or the Naval Militia of
any state toward the qualifications and requirements for EMT-II
certification. In developing the regulations pursuant to this
subdivision, the authority shall deem an applicant for EMT-II
certification with military experience equivalent to EMT-I
certification requirements as certified as an EMT-I unless the
authority determines that the education, training, or practical
experience is not sufficiently comparable to existing standards.

(c)  An EMT-II shall complete a course of training on the nature
of sudden infant death syndrome in accordance with subdivision
(b) of Section 1797.170.

(d) (1) In rural or remote areas of the state where patient
transport times are particularly long and where local resources are
inadequate to support an EMT-P program for EMS responses, the
director may approve additions to the scope of practice of EMT-IIs
serving the local system, if requested by the medical director of
the local EMS agency, and if the EMT-II has received training
equivalent to that of an EMT-P. The approval of the director, in
consultation with a committee of local EMS medical directors
named by the Emergency Medical Directors Association of
California, is required prior to implementation of any addition to
a local optional scope of practice for EMT-IIs proposed by the
medical director of a local EMS agency. No drug or procedure
that is not part of the basic EMT-P scope of practice, including,
but not limited to, any approved local options, shall be added to
any EMT-II scope of practice pursuant to this subdivision.

begin delete

Approval

end delete

(2) Approval of additions to the scope of practices pursuant to
this subdivision may be given only for EMT-II programs in effect
on January 1, 1994.

SEC. 3.  

Section 1797.172 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

1797.172.  

(a) The authority shall develop and, after approval
by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50, adopt minimum
standards for the training and scope of practice for EMT-P.

(b) No later than January 1, 2015, the authority shall develop
and, after approval by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50,
adopt regulations to, upon presentation of satisfactory evidence
by an applicant for EMT-P licensure, accept the education, training,
and practical experience completed by an applicant as a member
of the United States Armed Forces, the United States Military
Reserve, the National Guard of any state, or the Naval Militia of
any state toward the qualifications and requirements for EMT-P
licensure. In developing the regulations pursuant to this
subdivision, the authority shall not require an applicant for EMT-P
licensure with military experience equivalent to relevant
coursework to complete duplicative requirements unless the
authority determines that the education, training, or practical
experience is not sufficiently comparable to existing standards.

(c) The approval of the director, in consultation with a
committee of local EMS medical directors named by the EMS
Medical Directors Association of California, is required prior to
implementation of any addition to a local optional scope of practice
for EMT-Ps proposed by the medical director of a local EMS
agency.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority
shall be the agency solely responsible for licensure and licensure
renewal of EMT-Ps who meet the standards and are not precluded
from licensure because of any of the reasons listed in subdivision
(d) of Section 1798.200. Each application for licensure or licensure
renewal shall require the applicant’s social security number in
order to establish the identity of the applicant. The information
obtained as a result of a state and federal level criminal offender
record information search shall be used in accordance with Section
11105 of the Penal Code, and to determine whether the applicant
is subject to denial of licensure or licensure renewal pursuant to
this division. Submission of fingerprint images to the Department
of Justice may not be required for licensure renewal upon
determination by the authority that fingerprint images have
previously been submitted to the Department of Justice during
initial licensure, or a previous licensure renewal, provided that the
license has not lapsed and the applicant has resided continuously
in the state since the initial licensure.

(e) The authority shall charge fees for the licensure and licensure
renewal of EMT-Ps in an amount sufficient to support the
authority’s licensure program at a level that ensures the
qualifications of the individuals licensed to provide quality care.
The basic fee for licensure or licensure renewal of an EMT-P shall
not exceed one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) until the
adoption of regulations that specify a different amount that does
not exceed the authority’s EMT-P licensure, license renewal, and
enforcement programs. The authority shall annually evaluate fees
to determine if the fee is sufficient to fund the actual costs of the
authority’s licensure, licensure renewal, and enforcement programs.
If the evaluation shows that the fees are excessive or are insufficient
to fund the actual costs of the authority’s EMT-P licensure,
licensure renewal, and enforcement programs, then the fees shall
be adjusted accordingly through the rulemaking process described
in the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code). Separate additional fees may be charged, at
the option of the authority, for services that are not shared by all
applicants for licensure and licensure renewal, including, but not
limited to, any of the following services:

(1) Initial application for licensure as an EMT-P.

(2) Competency testing, the fee for which shall not exceed thirty
dollars ($30), except that an additional fee may be charged for the
cost of any services that provide enhanced availability of the exam
for the convenience of the EMT-P, such as on-demand electronic
testing.

(3) Fingerprint and criminal record check. The applicant shall,
if applicable according to subdivision begin delete (c), end delete begin insert (d), end insert submit fingerprint
images and related information for criminal offender record
information searches with the Department of Justice and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(4) Out-of-state training equivalency determination.

(5) Verification of continuing education for a lapse in licensure.

(6) Replacement of a lost licensure card. The fees charged for
individual services shall be set so that the total fees charged to
EMT-Ps shall not exceed the authority’s actual total cost for the
EMT-P licensure program.

(f) The authority may provide nonconfidential, nonpersonal
information relating to EMS programs to interested persons upon
request, and may establish and assess fees for the provision of this
information. These fees shall not exceed the costs of providing the
information.

(g) At the option of the authority, fees may be collected for the
authority by an entity that contracts with the authority to provide
any of the services associated with the EMT-P program. All fees
collected for the authority in a calendar month by any entity
designated by the authority pursuant to this section to collect fees
for the authority shall be transmitted to the authority for deposit
into the Emergency Medical Services Personnel Fund within 30
calendar days following the last day of the calendar month in which
the fees were received by the designated entity, unless the contract
between the entity and the authority specifies a different timeframe.