Public Act 103-0689
 
HB5085 EnrolledLRB103 38312 CES 68447 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems 
Act is amended by changing Sections 3.5, 3.35, and 3.65 as 
follows:
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.5)
    Sec. 3.5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Clinical observation" means the ongoing observation of a 
patient's medical or mental health condition by a licensed 
health care professional utilizing a medical skill set while 
continuing assessment and care.
    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public 
Health.
    "Director" means the Director of the Illinois Department 
of Public Health.
    "Emergency" means a medical condition of recent onset and 
severity that would lead a prudent layperson, possessing an 
average knowledge of medicine and health, to believe that 
urgent or unscheduled medical care is required.
    "Emergency Medical Services personnel" or "EMS personnel" 
means persons licensed as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) 
(First Responder), Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD), 
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Emergency Medical 
Technician-Intermediate (EMT-I), Advanced Emergency Medical 
Technician (A-EMT), Paramedic (EMT-P), Emergency 
Communications Registered Nurse (ECRN), Pre-Hospital 
Registered Nurse (PHRN), Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice 
Registered Nurse (PHAPRN), or Pre-Hospital Physician Assistant 
(PHPA).
    "Exclusive representative" has the same meaning as defined 
in Section 3 of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. 
    "Health care facility" means a hospital, nursing home, 
physician's office or other fixed location at which medical 
and health care services are performed. It does not include 
"pre-hospital emergency care settings" which utilize EMS 
personnel to render pre-hospital emergency care prior to the 
arrival of a transport vehicle, as defined in this Act.
    "Hospital" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the 
Hospital Licensing Act.
    "Labor organization" has the same meaning as defined in 
Section 3 of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. 
    "Medical monitoring" means the performance of medical 
tests and physical exams to evaluate an individual's ongoing 
exposure to a factor that could negatively impact that 
person's health. "Medical monitoring" includes close 
surveillance or supervision of patients liable to suffer 
deterioration in physical or mental health and checks of 
various parameters such as pulse rate, temperature, 
respiration rate, the condition of the pupils, the level of 
consciousness and awareness, the degree of appreciation of 
pain, and blood gas concentrations such as oxygen and carbon 
dioxide.
    "Silver spanner program" means a program in which a member 
under a fire department's or fire protection district's 
collective bargaining agreement works on or at the EMS System 
under another fire department's or fire protection district's 
collective bargaining agreement and (i) the other fire 
department or fire protection district is not the member's 
full-time employer and (ii) any EMS services not included 
under the original fire department's or fire protection 
district's collective bargaining agreement are included in the 
other fire department's or fire protection district's 
collective bargaining agreement. 
    "Trauma" means any significant injury which involves 
single or multiple organ systems.
(Source: P.A. 103-521, eff. 1-1-24.)
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.35)
    Sec. 3.35. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Resource 
Hospital; Functions. The Resource Hospital of an EMS System 
shall:
        (a) Prepare a Program Plan in accordance with the 
    provisions of this Act and minimum standards and criteria 
    established in rules adopted by the Department pursuant to 
    this Act, and submit such Program Plan to the Department 
    for approval.
        (b) Appoint an EMS Medical Director, who will 
    continually monitor and supervise the System and who will 
    have the responsibility and authority for total management 
    of the System as delegated by the EMS Resource Hospital.
        The Program Plan shall require the EMS Medical 
    Director to appoint an alternate EMS Medical Director and 
    establish a written protocol addressing the functions to 
    be carried out in his or her absence.
        (c) Appoint an EMS System Coordinator and EMS 
    Administrative Director in consultation with the EMS 
    Medical Director and in accordance with rules adopted by 
    the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (d) Identify potential EMS System participants and 
    obtain commitments from them for the provision of 
    services.
        (e) Educate or coordinate the education of EMS 
    personnel and all other license holders in accordance with 
    the requirements of this Act, rules adopted by the 
    Department pursuant to this Act, and the EMS System 
    Program Plan. An EMS System may coordinate education 
    outside of the region of which it is located with valid 
    justification and Department approval. The didactic 
    portion of education may be conducted through an online 
    platform with EMS System and Department approval. An 
    education plan within a Resource Hospital may include 
    classes performed outside of the region in which the 
    Resource Hospital is located. When considering whether to 
    approve or deny an education plan for classes performed 
    outside of the region in which a Resource Hospital is 
    located, the Department shall give deference to the EMS 
    Medical Director's education plan request and shall not 
    unreasonably withhold approval. 
        (f) Notify the Department of EMS personnel who have 
    successfully completed the requirements as provided by law 
    for initial licensure, license renewal, and license 
    reinstatement by the Department.
        (g) Educate or coordinate the education of Emergency 
    Medical Dispatcher candidates, in accordance with the 
    requirements of this Act, rules adopted by the Department 
    pursuant to this Act, and the EMS System Program Plan.
        (h) Establish or approve protocols for prearrival 
    medical instructions to callers by System Emergency 
    Medical Dispatchers who provide such instructions.
        (i) Educate or coordinate the education of 
    Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse, Pre-Hospital Advanced 
    Practice Registered Nurse, Pre-Hospital Physician 
    Assistant, and ECRN candidates, in accordance with the 
    requirements of this Act, rules adopted by the Department 
    pursuant to this Act, and the EMS System Program Plan.
        (j) Approve Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse, 
    Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, 
    Pre-Hospital Physician Assistant, and ECRN candidates to 
    practice within the System, and reapprove Pre-Hospital 
    Registered Nurses, Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice 
    Registered Nurses, Pre-Hospital Physician Assistants, and 
    ECRNs every 4 years in accordance with the requirements of 
    the Department and the System Program Plan.
        (k) Establish protocols for the use of Pre-Hospital 
    Registered Nurses, Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice 
    Registered Nurses, and Pre-Hospital Physician Assistants 
    within the System.
        (l) Establish protocols for utilizing ECRNs and 
    physicians licensed to practice medicine in all of its 
    branches to monitor telecommunications from, and give 
    voice orders to, EMS personnel, under the authority of the 
    EMS Medical Director.
        (m) Monitor emergency and non-emergency medical 
    transports within the System, in accordance with rules 
    adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (n) Utilize levels of personnel required by the 
    Department to provide emergency care to the sick and 
    injured at the scene of an emergency, during transport to 
    a hospital or during inter-hospital transport and within 
    the hospital emergency department until the responsibility 
    for the care of the patient is assumed by the medical 
    personnel of a hospital emergency department or other 
    facility within the hospital to which the patient is first 
    delivered by System personnel.
        (o) Utilize levels of personnel required by the 
    Department to provide non-emergency medical services 
    during transport to a health care facility and within the 
    health care facility until the responsibility for the care 
    of the patient is assumed by the medical personnel of the 
    health care facility to which the patient is delivered by 
    System personnel.
        (p) Establish and implement a program for System 
    participant information and education, in accordance with 
    rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (q) Establish and implement a program for public 
    information and education, in accordance with rules 
    adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (r) Operate in compliance with the EMS Region Plan.
(Source: P.A. 100-1082, eff. 8-24-19.)
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.65)
    Sec. 3.65. EMS Lead Instructor. 
    (a) "EMS Lead Instructor" means a person who has 
successfully completed a course of education as approved by 
the Department, and who is currently approved by the 
Department to coordinate or teach education, training and 
continuing education courses, in accordance with standards 
prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the Department 
pursuant to this Act.
    (b) The Department shall have the authority and 
responsibility to:
        (1) Prescribe education requirements for EMS Lead 
    Instructor candidates through rules adopted pursuant to 
    this Act.
        (2) Prescribe testing requirements for EMS Lead 
    Instructor candidates through rules adopted pursuant to 
    this Act.
        (3) Charge each candidate for EMS Lead Instructor a 
    fee to be submitted with an application for an 
    examination, an application for licensure, and an 
    application for relicensure.
        (4) Approve individuals as EMS Lead Instructors who 
    have met the Department's education and testing 
    requirements.
        (5) Require that all education, training and 
    continuing education courses for EMT, EMT-I, A-EMT, 
    Paramedic, PHRN, PHPA, PHAPRN, ECRN, EMR, and Emergency 
    Medical Dispatcher be coordinated by at least one approved 
    EMS Lead Instructor. A program which includes education, 
    training or continuing education for more than one type of 
    personnel may use one EMS Lead Instructor to coordinate 
    the program, and a single EMS Lead Instructor may 
    simultaneously coordinate more than one program or course. 
    An EMS Lead Instructor may oversee a paramedic with at 
    least 3 years of experience to teach EMT classes, with a 
    licensed teacher, in high schools. High school students 
    electing to not take the National Registry of Emergency 
    Medical Technicians (NREMT) Certification exam shall not 
    be accounted for in calculating the course pass rate by 
    the EMS System or Department. 
        (6) Provide standards and procedures for awarding EMS 
    Lead Instructor approval to persons previously approved by 
    the Department to coordinate such courses, based on 
    qualifications prescribed by the Department through rules 
    adopted pursuant to this Act.
        (7) Suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the 
    approval of an EMS Lead Instructor, after an opportunity 
    for a hearing, when findings show one or more of the 
    following:
            (A) The EMS Lead Instructor has failed to conduct 
        a course in accordance with the curriculum prescribed 
        by this Act and rules adopted by the Department 
        pursuant to this Act; or
            (B) The EMS Lead Instructor has failed to comply 
        with protocols prescribed by the Department through 
        rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(Source: P.A. 100-1082, eff. 8-24-19.)

Effective Date:  1/1/2025