Senate Bill No. 700

Introduced by Senator Berryhill

February 27, 2015

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 700, as introduced, Berryhill. Emergency medical services.

Under existing law, 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 emergency medical technician-paramedic (EMT-P).

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

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) 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.

(c) Notwithstanding any other begin delete provision of end delete 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 begin delete because of any of the reasons listed in end delete begin insert pursuant to end insert
subdivision begin delete (d) end delete begin insert (i) end insert 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.

(d) 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 begin delete any end delete services that provide enhanced availability of the exam
for the convenience of the EMT-P, begin delete such as end delete begin insert including, but not
limited to, end insert on-demand electronic testing.

(3) Fingerprint and criminal record check. The applicant shall,
if applicable according to subdivision (c), 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.

(e) 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.

(f) 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 begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert 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.