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92_HB0279ren
HB0279 Re-Enrolled 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 90. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
5 Systems Act is amended by changing Section 3.70 as follows:
6 (210 ILCS 50/3.70)
7 Sec. 3.70. Emergency Medical Dispatcher.
8 (a) "Emergency Medical Dispatcher" means a person who
9 has successfully completed a training course in emergency
10 medical dispatching course meeting or exceeding the national
11 curriculum of the United States Department of Transportation
12 in accordance with rules adopted by the Department pursuant
13 to this Act, who accepts calls from the public for emergency
14 medical services and dispatches designated emergency medical
15 services personnel and vehicles. The Emergency Medical
16 Dispatcher must use the Department-approved emergency medical
17 dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) protocol selected
18 for use by its agency and approved by its EMS medical
19 director. This protocol must be used by an emergency medical
20 dispatcher in an emergency medical dispatch agency to
21 dispatch aid to medical emergencies which includes
22 systematized caller interrogation questions; systematized
23 prearrival support instructions; and systematized coding
24 protocols that match the dispatcher's evaluation of the
25 injury or illness severity with the vehicle response mode and
26 vehicle response configuration and includes an appropriate
27 training curriculum and testing process consistent with the
28 specific EMDPRS protocol used by the emergency medical
29 dispatch agency. Prearrival support instructions shall be
30 provided in a non-discriminatory manner and shall be provided
31 in accordance with the EMDPRS established by the EMS medical
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1 director of the EMS system in which the EMD operates. may or
2 may not provide prearrival medical instructions to the
3 caller, at the discretion of the entity or agency that
4 employs him. Such instructions shall be provided in
5 accordance with protocols established by the EMS Medical
6 Director of the EMS System in which the dispatcher operates.
7 If the dispatcher operates under the authority of an
8 Emergency Telephone System Board established under the
9 Emergency Telephone System Act, the protocols shall be
10 established by such Board in consultation with the EMS
11 Medical Director. Persons who have already completed a
12 course of instruction in emergency medical dispatch based on,
13 equivalent to or exceeding the national curriculum of the
14 United States Department of Transportation, or as otherwise
15 approved by the Department, shall be considered Emergency
16 Medical Dispatchers on the effective date of this amendatory
17 Act.
18 (b) The Department shall have the authority and
19 responsibility to:
20 (1) Require certification and recertification of a
21 person who meets the training and other requirements as
22 an emergency medical dispatcher pursuant to this Act.
23 (2) Require certification and recertification of a
24 person, organization, or government agency that operates
25 an emergency medical dispatch agency that meets the
26 minimum standards prescribed by the Department for an
27 emergency medical dispatch agency pursuant to this Act.
28 (3) (1) Prescribe minimum education and continuing
29 education requirements for the Emergency Medical
30 Dispatcher, which meet or exceed the national curriculum
31 of the United States Department of Transportation,
32 through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.;
33 (4) Require each EMS Medical Director to report to
34 the Department whenever an action has taken place that
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1 may require the revocation or suspension of a certificate
2 issued by the Department.
3 (5) Require each EMD to provide prearrival
4 instructions in compliance with protocols selected and
5 approved by the system's EMS medical director and
6 approved by the Department.
7 (2) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to
8 notify the Department of the EMS System(s) in which he
9 operates;
10 (3) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher who
11 provides prearrival instructions to callers to comply
12 with the protocols for such instructions established by
13 the EMS Medical Director(s) and Emergency Telephone
14 System Board or Boards, or in the absence of an Emergency
15 Telephone System Board or Boards the governmental agency
16 performing the duties of an Emergency Telephone System
17 Board or Boards, of the EMS System or Systems in which he
18 operates;
19 (6) (4) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to
20 keep the Department currently informed as to the entity
21 or agency that employs or supervises his activities as an
22 Emergency Medical Dispatcher.;
23 (5) Establish a mechanism for phasing in the
24 Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements over a
25 five-year period;
26 (7) Establish an annual recertification requirement
27 that requires at least 12 hours of medical
28 dispatch-specific continuing education each year.
29 (8) Approve all EMDPRS protocols used by emergency
30 medical dispatch agencies to assure compliance with
31 national standards.
32 (9) Require that Department-approved emergency
33 medical dispatch training programs are conducted in
34 accordance with national standards.
HB0279 Re-Enrolled -4- LRB9203773LDpr
1 (10) Require that the emergency medical dispatch
2 agency be operated in accordance with national standards,
3 including, but not limited to, (i) the use on every
4 request for medical assistance of an emergency medical
5 dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) in accordance
6 with Department-approved policies and procedures and (ii)
7 under the approval and supervision of the EMS medical
8 director, the establishment of a continuous quality
9 improvement program.
10 (11) Require that a person may not represent
11 himself or herself, nor may an agency or business
12 represent an agent or employee of that agency or
13 business, as an emergency medical dispatcher unless
14 certified by the Department as an emergency medical
15 dispatcher.
16 (12) Require that a person, organization, or
17 government agency not represent itself as an emergency
18 medical dispatch agency unless the person, organization,
19 or government agency is certified by the Department as an
20 emergency medical dispatch agency.
21 (13) Require that a person, organization, or
22 government agency may not offer or conduct a training
23 course that is represented as a course for an emergency
24 medical dispatcher unless the person, organization, or
25 agency is approved by the Department to offer or conduct
26 that course.
27 (14) Require that Department-approved emergency
28 medical dispatcher training programs are conducted by
29 instructors licensed by the Department who:
30 (i) are, at a minimum, certified as emergency
31 medical dispatchers;
32 (ii) have completed a Department-approved
33 course on methods of instruction;
34 (iii) have previous experience in a medical
HB0279 Re-Enrolled -5- LRB9203773LDpr
1 dispatch agency; and
2 (iv) have demonstrated experience as an EMS
3 instructor.
4 (15) (6) Establish criteria for modifying or
5 waiving Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements based
6 on (i) the scope and frequency of dispatch activities and
7 the dispatcher's access to training or (ii) whether the
8 previously-attended dispatcher training program merits
9 automatic recertification for the dispatcher.
10 (Source: P.A. 89-177, eff. 7-19-95.)
11 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
12 January 1, 2002.
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