ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2916
(By Delegates Staggers, Morgan, M. Poling,
Caputo, Webster, White and Perdue)
(Passed April 11, 2009; in effect from passage.)
AN ACT to amend and reenact §16-4C-6, §16-4C-6b and §16-4C-8 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931 as amended, all relating to the
Emergency Medical Services Act; providing rule-making
authority for fees for certification and recertification of
emergency services personnel; providing for fees for
certification and recertification of emergency services
personnel to be deposited in the Emergency Medical Services
Agency Licensure Fund; requiring applicants for certification
to submit to a criminal history background check; prohibiting
the release of results of criminal history background check to
or by private entities; and establishing fees for
certification and recertification of emergency services
personnel.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-4C-6, §16-4C-6b and §16-4C-8 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931 as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 4C. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ACT.
§16-4C-6. Powers and duties of commissioner.
The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) In accordance with chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to
propose rules regarding the age, training, retraining, testing,
certification and recertification, and fees for the certification
and recertification, of emergency medical service personnel.
However, the commissioner may not propose any rule required by this
article until it has been submitted for review to the emergency
medical services advisory council and this council has had at least
thirty days to review such proposed rule. The council may take no
action unless a quorum is present;
(b) To apply for, receive and expend advances, grants,
contributions and other forms of assistance from the state or
federal government or from any private or public agencies or
foundations to carry out the provisions of this article;
(c) To design, develop and annually review a statewide
emergency medical services implementation plan. The plan shall
recommend aid and assistance and all other acts necessary to carry
out the purposes of this article:
(1) To encourage local participation by area, county and
community officials and regional emergency medical services boards
of directors; and
(2) To develop a system for monitoring and evaluating
emergency medical services programs throughout the state;
(d) To provide professional and technical assistance and to make information available to regional emergency medical services
boards of directors and other potential applicants or program
sponsors of emergency medical services for purposes of developing
and maintaining a statewide system of services;
(e) To assist local government agencies, regional emergency
medical services boards of directors and other public or private
entities in obtaining federal, state or other available funds and
services;
(f) To cooperate and work with federal, state and local
governmental agencies, private organizations and other entities as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this article;
(g) To acquire in the name of the state by grant, purchase,
gift, devise or any other methods appropriate real and personal
property as may be reasonable and necessary to carry out the
purposes of this article;
(h) To make grants and allocations of funds and property so
acquired or which may have been appropriated to the agency to other
agencies of state and local government as may be appropriate to
carry out the purposes of this article;
(i) To expend and distribute by grant or bailment funds and
property to all state and local agencies for the purpose of
performing the duties and responsibilities of the agency all funds
which it may have so acquired or which may have been appropriated
by the Legislature of this state;
(j) To develop a program to inform the public concerning
emergency medical services;
(k) To review and disseminate information regarding federal
grant assistance relating to emergency medical services;
(l) To prepare and submit to the Governor and Legislature
recommendations for legislation in the area of emergency medical
services;
(m) To review, make recommendations for and assist in all
projects and programs that provide for emergency medical services
whether or not the projects or programs are funded through the
Office of Emergency Medical Services. A review and approval shall
be required for all emergency medical services projects, programs
or services for which application is made to receive state or
federal funds for their operation after the effective date of this
act; and
(n) To take all necessary and appropriate action to encourage
and foster the cooperation of all emergency medical service
providers and facilities within this state.
(o) Nothing in this article may be construed to allow the
commissioner to dissolve, invalidate or eliminate any existing
emergency medical service program or ambulance providers in service
at the time of adoption of the amendment to this article in the
regular session of the Legislature in the year 1984, or to deny
them fair access to federal and state funding, medical facilities
and training programs.
§16-4C-6b. Establishment of emergency medical services agency
licensure fund; authorized expenditures; annual
report.
(a) There is established in the State Treasury a special
revenue fund designated the "Emergency Medical Services Agency
Licensure Fund", which shall be administered by the Commissioner of
the Bureau of Public Health.
(b) All application, personnel certification and
recertification and agency licensing fees collected pursuant to the
provisions of sections six, six-a and eight of this article shall
be deposited into the fund and expended in accordance with the
agency licensure and personnel certification and recertification
duties imposed in this article.
(c) Any remaining balance, including accrued interest, in the
fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not revert to the General
Revenue Fund, but shall remain in the account.
(d) On or before January 1 of each year, the commissioner
shall provide the Legislature with an annual fiscal year report on
the emergency medical services agency licensure account including,
but not limited to, the previous fiscal year's expenditures;
projected expenditures for the current and next fiscal years; the
number of agency licenses and personnel certifications and
recertifications issued, denied, suspended or revoked; and, the
status of licensure and certification hearings and court actions.
§16-4C-8. Standards for emergency medical service personnel.
(a) Every ambulance operated by an emergency medical service
agency shall carry at least two personnel. At least one person
shall be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation or first aid
and the person in the patient compartment shall be certified as an emergency medical technician-basic at a minimum, except that in the
case of a specialized multipatient medical transport, only one
staff person is required and that person shall be certified, at a
minimum, at the level of an emergency medical technician-basic.
(b) As a minimum the training for each class of emergency
medical service personnel shall include:
(1) Emergency medical service attendant: Shall have earned
and possess valid certificates from the department or by
authorities recognized and approved by the commissioner;
(2) Emergency medical technician-basic: Shall have
successfully completed the course for certification as an emergency
medical technician-basic as established by the commissioner or
authorities recognized and approved by the commissioner; and
(3) Emergency medical technician-paramedic: Shall have
successfully completed the course for certification as an emergency
medical technician-paramedic established by the commissioner or
authorities recognized and approved by the commissioner.
(c) Subsection (b) of this section may not be considered to
limit the power of the commissioner to prescribe training,
certification and recertification standards.
(d) Any person desiring emergency medical service personnel
certification shall apply to the commissioner using forms and
procedures prescribed by the commissioner. Upon receipt of the
application, the commissioner shall determine whether the applicant
meets the certification requirements and may examine the applicant,
if necessary to make that determination.
(e) The applicant shall submit to a national criminal
background check, the requirement of which is declared to be not
against public policy.
(1) The applicant shall meet all requirements necessary to
accomplish the national criminal background check, including
submitting fingerprints, and authorizing the West Virginia Office
of Emergency Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
use all records submitted and produced for the purpose of screening
the applicant for certification.
(2) The results of the national criminal background check may
not be released to or by a private entity.
(3) The applicant shall submit a fee of $75 for initial
certification and a fee of $50 for recertification. The fees set
forth in this subsection remain in effect until modified by
legislative rule.
(f) If the Commissioner determines that the applicant meets
all of the requirements, he or she shall issue an appropriate
emergency medical service personnel certificate which shall be
valid for a period as determined by the commissioner.
(g) State and county continuing education and recertification
programs for all levels of emergency medical service providers
shall be available to emergency medical service providers at a
convenient site within one hundred miles of the provider's primary
place of operation at sites determined by the regional emergency
medical services offices. The continuing education program shall
be provided at a cost specified in a fee schedule to be promulgated by legislative rule in accordance with article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code by the Secretary of the Department of
Health and Human Resources to all nonprofit emergency medical
service personnel.
(h) The commissioner may issue a temporary emergency medical
service personnel certificate to an applicant, with or without
examination of the applicant, when he or she finds that issuance to
be in the public interest. Unless suspended or revoked, a
temporary certificate shall be valid initially for a period not
exceeding one hundred twenty days and may not be renewed unless the
commissioner finds the renewal to be in the public interest. The
expiration date of a temporary certificate shall be extended until
the holder is afforded at least one opportunity to take an
emergency medical service personnel training course within the
general area where he or she serves as an emergency medical service
personnel, but the expiration date may not be extended for any
longer period of time or for any other reason.