BILL NUMBER: AB 1272 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hill
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Ammiano )
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 1797.222 and 1798.169 of the Health and
Safety Code, and to amend Sections 21661.5 and 21662.1 of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to public health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1272, as amended, Hill. Emergency medical services: trauma
center: helicopter landing pad.
Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and
Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, establishes the
Emergency Medical Services Authority within the California Health and
Human Services Agency to, among other things, provide statewide
coordination of county emergency medical service programs, including,
but not limited to, designated trauma centers, and to administer the
Trauma Care Fund.
Existing law, the State Aeronautics Act, sets forth provisions
regulating aeronautics in California under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Transportation, including, but not limited to, the
planning, siting, and approval, of airports, including, but not
limited to, helicopter landing pads. The law provides counties
and cities with specified authority over the approval of
helicopter landing pads.
This bill would provide that those provisions of law shall not be
construed as authorizing a city, county , or city and
county to prohibit a trauma center from installing a helicopter
landing pad at or near its facility for the purpose of receiving
emergency trauma care patients, and would make conforming changes.
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 1797.222 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
1797.222. (a) A county, upon the recommendation of its local EMS
agency, may adopt ordinances governing the transport of a patient who
is receiving care in the field from prehospital emergency medical
personnel, when the patient meets specific criteria for trauma, burn,
or pediatric centers adopted by the local EMS agency.
(b) The ordinances shall, to the extent possible, ensure that
individual patients receive appropriate medical care while protecting
the interests of the community at large by making maximum use of
available emergency medical care resources. These ordinances shall be
consistent with Sections 1797.106, 1798.100, and 1798.102, and shall
not conflict with any state regulations or any guidelines adopted by
the Emergency Medical Service Authority.
(c) This section shall not be construed as prohibiting the
helicopter program of the Department of the California Highway Patrol
from a role in providing emergency medical services when the best
medically qualified person at the scene of an accident determines it
is in the best interests of any injured party.
(d) This section shall not be construed as authorizing a county
or city and county to prohibit a trauma center from
installing a helicopter landing pad at or near its facility for the
purpose of receiving emergency trauma care patients.
SEC. 2. Section 1798.169 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
1798.169. (a) Nothing in this article shall be construed as
restricting the use of a helicopter of the Department of the
California Highway Patrol from performing missions which the
department determines are in the best interests of the people of the
State of California.
(b) Nothing in this article shall be construed as authorizing a
county city, county, or city and
county to prohibit a trauma center from installing a helicopter
landing pad at or near its facility for the purpose of receiving
emergency trauma care patients.
SEC. 3. Section 21661.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
21661.5. (a) No political subdivision, any of its officers or
employees, or any person may submit any application for the
construction of a new airport to any local, regional, state, or
federal agency unless the plan for construction is first approved by
the board of supervisors of the county, or the city council of the
city, in which the airport is to be located and unless the plan is
submitted to the appropriate commission exercising powers pursuant to
Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 21670) of Chapter 4 of Part 1
of Division 9, and acted upon by that commission in accordance with
the provisions of that article.
(b) A county board of supervisors or a city council may, pursuant
to Section 65100 of the Government Code, delegate its responsibility
under this section for the approval of a plan for construction of new
helicopter landing and takeoff areas, to the county or city planning
agency.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing a
county city, county, or city and county
to prohibit a trauma center from installing a helicopter landing pad
at or near its facility for the purpose of receiving emergency
trauma care patients.
SEC. 4. Section 21662.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
21662.1. (a) At or as near as practical to the site of a medical
emergency and at a medical facility, an officer authorized by a
public safety agency may designate an area for the landing and taking
off of an emergency service helicopter, in accordance with
regulations established not later than January 1, 1989, pursuant to
Section 21243.
(b) "Public safety agency" means any city, county, state agency,
or special purpose district authorized to arrange for emergency
medical services.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing a
county city, county, or city and county
to prohibit a trauma center from installing a helicopter landing pad
at or near its facility for the purpose of receiving emergency
trauma care patients.