Full Text of HR0872 97th General Assembly
HR0872 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | 3 | | System, comprised of dozens of individual EMS systems operating | 4 | | throughout the State, has since the early 1970s represented | 5 | | one-third of our crucial 911 emergency response | 6 | | infrastructure; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' EMS system and the thousands of people | 8 | | it employs continue to play a vital and life-saving role for | 9 | | the people of Illinois; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Approximately two-thirds of non-police 911 calls | 11 | | are calls requesting an ambulance; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In addition to responding to 911 calls placed from | 13 | | homes and businesses, Illinois' EMS system covers all 16,000 | 14 | | miles of Illinois' roads; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, EMS ambulances annually respond to tens of | 16 | | thousands of motor vehicle crashes, treating 88,937 injured | 17 | | motorists in 2010, the latest year of available data; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Timely, efficient, and appropriate emergency | 19 | | medical care is one of the most significant factors in | 20 | | determining a patients outcome for a great many medical issues |
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| 1 | | in addition to trauma, notably including acute cardiovascular | 2 | | disease, the nation's number one killer of adults; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Properly maintained ambulances outfitted with | 4 | | advanced medical equipment are necessary to provide optimal | 5 | | emergency medical care on scene and enroute to the hospital; | 6 | | and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Advanced levels of training are necessary for all | 8 | | practitioners of emergency medicine, with higher licensure | 9 | | levels representing greater lengths of training and a greater | 10 | | range of advanced medical procedures; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Despite longer average drive times from the scene | 12 | | of a medical emergency to a hospital, and thus longer periods | 13 | | of time in which patients are in the sole care of emergency | 14 | | medical practitioners, many rural EMS systems are staffed | 15 | | primarily by volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians often | 16 | | with comparably lower levels of training and less available | 17 | | medical equipment than is found in most urban EMS systems; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, While many well-funded federal grants were | 19 | | deservedly made available to police and fire services over the | 20 | | last 11 years, the same cannot be said of federal funds | 21 | | available to EMS services, forcing many joint fire/EMS | 22 | | departments and stand-alone EMS departments to rely on ad-hoc |
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| 1 | | local fundraising efforts to keep up aging ambulances and basic | 2 | | equipment; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, The State has often found it necessary to sweep | 4 | | expected EMS funds due to ongoing budget challenges, resulting | 5 | | in the fact that actual EMS funding has largely remained flat | 6 | | or declined over the last 10 years; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Attrition of more highly-trained EMTs, especially | 8 | | within volunteer EMS departments, has led to a situation in | 9 | | which recruitment, up-training, and retention of qualified | 10 | | EMTs has become incredibly challenging for many EMS | 11 | | departments; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, These various challenges are indicative of the | 13 | | fact that despite over 40 years of crucial service, and in | 14 | | contrast to the equally worthy Police and Fire Services, | 15 | | Emergency Medical Service has never been declared an essential | 16 | | service by the State of Illinois; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Despite these many challenges they face as an | 18 | | equal third of the State's emergency response infrastructure, | 19 | | the brave and talented men and women of Illinois' EMS system | 20 | | continue to save lives and improve medical outcomes for | 21 | | patients across the State on a daily basis; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 2 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 3 | | Emergency Medical Service should be prioritized in line with | 4 | | its value to the people of Illinois and should formally be | 5 | | declared an Essential Service.
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