BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 333
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Susan Bonilla, Chair
AB 333
(Melendez) - As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Healing arts: continuing education.
SUMMARY: Authorizes healing arts licensees to earn one unit of
continuing education (CE) credit by attending a course that
results in the licensee becoming a certified instructor of
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or the proper use of an
automated external defibrillator (AED) and up to two units of CE
credit for conducting CPR or AED training sessions for employees
of school districts and community college districts in the
state.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing
arts licensees by various boards within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA) and imposes various continuing
education (CE) requirements for license renewal. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) §§ 500-4999.129)
2)Requires the Director of the DCA to establish guidelines for
mandatory CE administered by the boards under the DCA,
including, among other things, the CE's relevancy to the
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occupation. (BPC § 166)
THIS BILL:
3)Authorizes healing arts licensees, who are required to
complete CE units as a condition of renewing their license, to
earn one unit of CE credit by attending a course that results
in the licensee becoming a certified instructor of CPR or the
proper use of an AED.
4)Authorizes healing arts licensees, who are required to
complete CE units as a condition of renewing their license, to
apply up to two units of CE credit towards the requirement for
conducting CPR or AED training sessions for employees of
school districts and community college districts in the state.
5)Defines "unit" as a measurement for continuing education, such
as hours or course credits.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
6)Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the author. According to
the author, "As cardiac emergencies become more common on
school campuses, it is not only imperative that our schools
have lifesaving resources available to faculty and
administration, but the ability to provide the faculty and
administration with hands-on training with those resources. By
incentivizing licensed medical professionals to provide this
training in turn for continual education credit, we are
providing a no-cost solution that will allow school officials
to become familiar with the technology. This will ultimately
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lead to less hesitation in emergency environments and
increases in the success rate of cardiac emergency care."
7)Background. All 20 healing arts boards under the DCA develop
their own CE curriculum for licensees and approve the
providers that offer the CE courses. However, they are
limited to CE that is relevant to the profession. Current law
specifies that the purpose of CE is "?to create a more
competent licensing population, thereby enhancing public
protection" (BPC § 166).
Further, the boards often have limiting language within their
practice acts. For instance, the Dental Board is permitted to
establish its own CE curriculum within the general areas of
patient care, health and safety, and law and ethics (BPC §
1645). The Medical Board's standards are aimed at
maintaining, developing, or increasing the knowledge, skills,
and professional performance that licensees use to provide
care (BPC § 2190.1).
Using the criteria set out in statute, the boards then determine
relevant CE courses and approve the providers that teach the
courses. This bill would permit the licensees of healing arts
boards to use CPR and AED instructor certification courses and
teaching sessions to earn credit towards the CE requirements
established by the boards, regardless of the approved CE
courses.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
The American Red Cross writes in support, "The American Red
Cross is pleased to support your AB 333, which would incentivize
the training of K-12 school faculty and administrators in the
use of [AEDs], by allowing individuals the ability to earn
continuing education units.
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AEDs are used to treat the effects of sudden cardiac arrest,
which is triggered by an electrical malfunction in the
heart-with the heart unable to pump blood to the brain, lungs,
and other vital organs, death can happen in minutes. Each year
nearly 424,000 people experience sudden cardiac arrest outside
of a hospital. Only 10% of these individuals survive.
Encouraging school employees to be prepared in time of
emergency, including the use of an AED, can save lives."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:
None on file.
IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES:
This bill may conflict with the California Emergency Medical
Services Authority's (EMSA) regulations regarding "lay rescuers"
and AED training (California Code of Regulations Title 22, §
100031-100043). The author may wish to work with EMSA to ensure
that the requirements for lay rescuers, as spelled out in the
EMSA regulations, is consistent with the requirements for
healing arts licensees that would be impacted by this bill.
POLICY ISSUES:
Some boards, such as the Board for Behavioral Sciences (BBS),
may wish to opt out of this bill. For instance, at the April 23,
2015 BBS Policy and Advocacy Committee meeting, a board analysis
noted that this bill may conflict with the board's continuing
education statutory and regulatory requirements. The analysis
stated that:
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"Current law specifies that continuing education must
incorporate either aspects of the discipline for which
licensed that are fundamental to the practice of the
profession, aspects of the discipline where significant recent
developments have occurred, or aspects of other disciplines
that enhance the understanding or practice of the profession.
While CPR/AED training is important, it may be difficult to
argue that it is fundamental to, or enhances the understanding
of, the practice of psychotherapy."
Therefore, the author should make the following amendments to
provide boards the authority to opt out and to exclude boards
with conflicting statutes.
AMENDMENTS:
8)Ensure that licensees only apply the credits once per renewal
cycle:
On page 2, line 5, strike: may and after "license" insert:
may, once per renewal cycle,
On page 2, line 12, strike: may and after "license" insert:
may, once per renewal cycle,
9)Specify which certification courses apply:
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On page 2, line 9, after "state" insert:
The licensee may attend the following courses:
(1) An instructional program developed by the American Heart
Association.
(2) An instructional program developed by the American Red
Cross.
(3) An instructional program that is nationally recognized and
based on the most current national evidence-based emergency
cardiovascular care guidelines for the performance of CPR and
the use of an AED.
10)Ensure the training sessions are approved by the appropriate
board:
On page 2, line 15, after "state" insert:
The training session must be approved by the applicable
licensing entity.
11)and exclude boards that do not wish to participate or have
conflicting statutory or regulatory requirements:
On page 2, after line 17, insert:
(e) This section does not apply to a person licensed under
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this division if the applicable board's laws establishing
continuing education exclude the courses or activities
described in subdivisions (a) and (b).
REGISTERED SUPPORT:
The American Red Cross
REGISTERED OPPOSITION:
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Vincent Chee / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301