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92_HB0279 LRB9203773LDpr 1 AN ACT concerning emergency medical dispatches. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5 Emergency Medical Dispatch Act. 6 Section 5. Findings of the Legislature. 7 The American Heart Association, the National Institutes 8 of Health, the EMS for Children Program of the Health 9 Resources and Services Administration of United States 10 Department of Health and Human Services, the National 11 Association of EMS Physicians, the National Association of 12 State EMS Directors, and the American College of Emergency 13 Physicians have each identified that emergency medical 14 dispatch is a critical component of an emergency medical 15 services system. 16 The ASTM F-30 Committee on Emergency Medical Services has 17 published the Standard Practice for Emergency Medical 18 Dispatch (F 1258), the Standard Practice for Training 19 Instructor Qualification and Certification Eligibility of 20 Emergency Medical Dispatchers (F 1552), and Standard for 21 Practice Emergency Medical Dispatch Management (F 1560). 22 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the 23 United States Department of Transportation has published the 24 National Standard Curriculum for Emergency Medical Dispatch. 25 The Legislature finds that modern emergency medical 26 dispatch is a key component of an emergency medical services 27 system and declares that it is the intent of this legislation 28 to provide the State with systems for emergency medical 29 dispatch by establishing within the Department of Public 30 Health the authority for the coordination and integration of 31 all activities within the State concerning the dispatch of -2- LRB9203773LDpr 1 emergency medical services and the regulation of emergency 2 medical services dispatch systems. 3 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: 4 "Advanced life support provider" means a person that has 5 been licensed or certified as an EMT-Intermediate, 6 EMT-Paramedic, registered nurse, or licensed physician in any 7 state. 8 "Emergency medical dispatcher (EMD)" means a trained 9 public safety telecommunicator with additional specialized 10 training and specific emergency medical dispatch protocol 11 knowledge essential for the efficient management of emergency 12 medical call-taking and dispatch communications and certified 13 in accordance with this Act. 14 "Emergency medical dispatching" means the reception, 15 evaluation, processing, and provision of dispatch life 16 support, management of requests for emergency medical 17 assistance, and participation in ongoing evaluation and 18 improvement of the emergency medical dispatch process. 19 "Emergency medical dispatch agency" means any dispatch 20 center that (i) receives and processes calls requesting 21 emergency medical assistance, provides dispatch life support, 22 or dispatches emergency medical services resources and (ii) 23 is certified in accordance with this Act. 24 "Department" means the Department of Public Health. 25 "Dispatch life support (DLS)" means the knowledge, 26 procedures, and skills used by trained EMDs in providing care 27 and advice through pre-arrival instructions and post-dispatch 28 instructions to callers requesting emergency medical 29 assistance. 30 "Pre-arrival instructions" means telephone-rendered, 31 medically approved, scripted instructions given by certified 32 EMDs to callers that provide necessary assistance and control 33 of a situation prior to arrival of emergency medical services -3- LRB9203773LDpr 1 personnel. Pre-arrival instructions are read word for word by 2 the EMD to the fullest extent possible. 3 "Post-dispatch instructions" means case-specific advice, 4 warnings, and treatments relayed by trained EMDs through 5 callers after dispatching field responders. 6 "Emergency medical dispatch priority reference system 7 (EMDPRS)" means a medically approved system that includes the 8 protocol used by an emergency medical dispatcher in an 9 emergency medical dispatch agency to dispatch aid to medical 10 emergencies that includes systematized caller interrogation 11 questions, systematized dispatch life support instructions, 12 and systematized coding protocols that match the dispatcher's 13 evaluation of the injury or illness severity with the vehicle 14 response mode and vehicle response configuration, and 15 includes an appropriate training curriculum and testing 16 process consistent with the specific EMDPRS protocol used by 17 the emergency medical dispatch agency. 18 "Vehicle response mode" means the use of emergency 19 driving techniques such as warning lights-and-siren or 20 routine driving response. 21 "Vehicle response configuration" means the specific 22 vehicles of varied types, capabilities, and numbers 23 responding to render assistance. 24 "Medical direction" means the management and 25 accountability for the medical care aspects of an emergency 26 medical dispatch agency, including the medical monitoring 27 oversight of the training of EMD personnel; approval and 28 medical control of the operational emergency medical dispatch 29 priority reference system (EMDPRS); evaluation of medical 30 care and prearrival instructions rendered by EMD personnel; 31 direct participation in EMD system evaluation, quality 32 assurance, and quality improvement process and mechanisms; 33 and responsibility for the medical decisions and care 34 rendered by an emergency medical dispatcher and emergency -4- LRB9203773LDpr 1 medical dispatch agency. 2 "Medical director" means a licensed physician approved by 3 the Department who provides medical direction to an emergency 4 medical dispatch agency. 5 "Continuing dispatcher education" means educational 6 experiences in accordance with standards set forth in ASTM F 7 1560 Standard Practice for Emergency Medical Dispatch, 8 Section 13 Continuing Dispatcher Education. 9 "Compliance to protocol" means the adherence to the 10 written text or scripts and other processes within the 11 approved EMDPRS, except a deviation from the text or script 12 that occurs only for the express purpose of clarifying the 13 meaning or intent of a question or facilitating the clear 14 understanding of a required action, instruction, or response 15 from a caller. 16 Section 15. Certificate required. 17 (a) A person may not represent himself or herself nor 18 may an agency or business represent an agent or employee of 19 that agency or business as an emergency medical dispatcher 20 unless the person so represented is certified by the 21 Department as an emergency medical dispatcher. 22 (b) A person, organization, or government agency may not 23 represent itself as an emergency medical dispatch agency 24 unless the person, organization, or government agency is 25 certified by the Department as an emergency medical dispatch 26 agency. 27 (c) A person, organization, or government agency may not 28 offer or conduct a training course that is represented as a 29 course for an emergency medical dispatcher unless the person, 30 organization, or agency is approved by the Department to 31 offer or conduct that course. 32 Section 20. Issuance of certificates. -5- LRB9203773LDpr 1 (a) The Department shall prescribe by rule the 2 requirements that are prerequisite to the issuance of 3 certificates that provide for the following: 4 (1) certification and recertification of a person 5 who meets the training and other requirements as an 6 emergency medical dispatcher; 7 (2) certification and recertification that a 8 person, organization, or government agency that operates 9 an emergency medical dispatch agency meets the minimum 10 standards prescribed by the Department for an emergency 11 medical dispatch agency. 12 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 13 Department shall grant certification or recertification 14 without further examination to any person with a current 15 certification from the National Academy of Emergency Medical 16 Dispatch. 17 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 18 Department shall grant certification or recertification to 19 any emergency medical dispatch agency that is accredited by 20 the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch. 21 Section 25. Minimum standards. 22 (a) The Department shall prescribe by rule the training 23 and other requirements for certification of emergency medical 24 dispatchers in accordance with the following minimum 25 standards: 26 (1) An emergency medical dispatcher shall be 27 trained in a Department-approved emergency medical 28 dispatch training program. 29 (2) Department-approved emergency medical dispatch 30 training programs shall be conducted in accordance with 31 ASTM F1258 Standard Practice for Emergency Medical 32 Dispatch, ASTM F 1552 Standard Practice for Training 33 Instructor Qualifications and Certification Eligibility -6- LRB9203773LDpr 1 of Emergency Medical Dispatchers, ASTM F 1560 Standard 2 Practice for Emergency Medical Dispatch Management; and 3 the National Institutes of Health recommendations for 4 emergency medical dispatcher training and shall include a 5 written examination approved by the Department that tests 6 for competency the specific EMDPRS taught in the training 7 program. 8 (3) Department-approved emergency medical 9 dispatcher training programs shall be conducted by 10 instructors that either (A) (i) are certified as an 11 emergency medical dispatchers, (ii) are currently or were 12 formerly licensed or certified as advanced life support 13 providers, (iii) have completed a methods of instruction 14 course, (iv) have previous experience in a medical 15 dispatch agency, and (v) have demonstrated experience as 16 EMS instructors; or (B) by instructors who are certified 17 as EMD Instructors by the National Academy of Emergency 18 Medical Dispatch. 19 (4) Certification of emergency medical dispatchers 20 shall be based on successful completion of a 21 Department-approved emergency medical dispatcher course. 22 (5) Recertification of emergency medical 23 dispatchers shall be based on the accumulation of at 24 least 12 hours of continuing dispatcher education for 25 each year of the certification period. 26 The Department may establish additional qualifications 27 for certification and recertification as it deems necessary, 28 except that no statewide written examination may be required 29 if the Department approves the use of different EMDPRS by 30 emergency medical dispatch agencies. 31 (b) The Department shall prescribe by rule the 32 requirements for certification of an emergency medical 33 dispatch agency. At a minimum, an emergency medical dispatch 34 agency must be operated in accordance with ASTM F 1560 -7- LRB9203773LDpr 1 Standard Practice for Emergency Medical Dispatch Management, 2 including but not limited to: 3 (1) the use on every request for medical assistance 4 of an emergency medical dispatch priority reference 5 system (EMDPRS); 6 (2) under the approval and supervision of the 7 medical director, the establishment of a continuous 8 quality improvement program that measures compliance to 9 protocol through ongoing random case review for each EMD 10 and provides feedback to the individuals and management 11 of the EMS agency regarding the level of compliance; and 12 (3) the appointment of a dispatch medical director 13 to review and approve the EMDPRS, the EMD training 14 program, and the medical aspects of the operation of the 15 emergency medical dispatch agency. 16 The agency shall have and use the most current version of 17 the Department-approved EMDPRS selected for use by the 18 agency. 19 Section 30. Authority of Department. The Department 20 shall have the authority and responsibility to: 21 (1) require emergency medical dispatchers to comply with 22 the protocols for pre-arrival instructions to callers 23 established by the EMS Medical Director and the emergency 24 medical dispatch agency; 25 (2) require each emergency medical dispatcher to keep 26 the Department informed as to the entity or agency that 27 employs or supervises his or her activities as an emergency 28 medical dispatcher; 29 (3) approve all EMDPRS protocols used by emergency 30 medical dispatch agencies to assure compliance with ASTM F 31 1258 Standard Practice for Emergency Medical Dispatch; and 32 (4) require emergency medical dispatchers, emergency 33 medical dispatch agencies, and the National Academy of -8- LRB9203773LDpr 1 Emergency Medical Dispatch to report to the Department 2 whenever an action has taken place that may require the 3 revocation or suspension of a certificate issued by the 4 Department.