H. B. 2916
(By Delegates Staggers, Morgan, M. Poling,
Caputo, Webster, White and Perdue)
[Introduced March 3, 2009; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL 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.
Provided, That However, the commissioner may not propose any rule
required by
the provisions of 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
section 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) The foregoing Subsection (b) of this section may not be
considered to limit the power of the commissioner to prescribe
training, certification and recertification standards.
(c) (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
it is determined the Commissioner determines that the
applicant meets all of the requirements,
the commissioner 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
the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code by the
division of health
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources to all
nonprofit emergency medical service personnel.
(d) (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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide rule-making
authority for fees for certification and recertification of
emergency services personnel; provide for fees for certification
and recertification of emergency services personnel to be deposited
in the Emergency Medical Services Agency Licensure Fund; require
applicants for certification to submit to a criminal history
background check; prohibit the release of results of criminal
history background check to or by private entities; and establish
fees for certification and recertification of emergency services
personnel.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.