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92_HB0279ham004
LRB9203773LDpram04
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 279
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 279, AS AMENDED, by
3 replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4 following:
5 "Section 90. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
6 Systems Act is amended by changing Section 3.70 as follows:
7 (210 ILCS 50/3.70)
8 Sec. 3.70. Emergency Medical Dispatcher.
9 (a) "Emergency Medical Dispatcher" means a person who
10 has successfully completed a training course in emergency
11 medical dispatching course meeting or exceeding the national
12 curriculum of the United States Department of Transportation
13 in accordance with rules adopted by the Department pursuant
14 to this Act, who accepts calls from the public for emergency
15 medical services and dispatches designated emergency medical
16 services personnel and vehicles. The Emergency Medical
17 Dispatcher must use the Department-approved emergency medical
18 dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) protocol selected
19 for use by its agency and approved by its EMS medical
20 director. This protocol must be used by an emergency medical
21 dispatcher in an emergency medical dispatch agency to
22 dispatch aid to medical emergencies which includes
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1 systematized caller interrogation questions; systematized
2 dispatch life support instructions; and systematized coding
3 protocols that match the dispatcher's evaluation of the
4 injury or illness severity with the vehicle response mode and
5 vehicle response configuration and includes an appropriate
6 training curriculum and testing process consistent with the
7 specific EMDPRS protocol used by the emergency medical
8 dispatch agency. Dispatch life support instructions shall be
9 provided in a non-discretionary manner and shall be provided
10 in accordance with the EMDPRS established by the EMS medical
11 director of the EMS system in which the EMD operates. may or
12 may not provide prearrival medical instructions to the
13 caller, at the discretion of the entity or agency that
14 employs him. Such instructions shall be provided in
15 accordance with protocols established by the EMS Medical
16 Director of the EMS System in which the dispatcher operates.
17 If the dispatcher operates under the authority of an
18 Emergency Telephone System Board established under the
19 Emergency Telephone System Act, the protocols shall be
20 established by such Board in consultation with the EMS
21 Medical Director. Persons who have already completed a
22 course of instruction in emergency medical dispatch based on,
23 equivalent to or exceeding the national curriculum of the
24 United States Department of Transportation, or as otherwise
25 approved by the Department, shall be considered Emergency
26 Medical Dispatchers on the effective date of this amendatory
27 Act.
28 (b) The Department shall have the authority and
29 responsibility to:
30 (1) Require certification and recertification of a
31 person who meets the training and other requirements as
32 an emergency medical dispatcher pursuant to this Act.
33 (2) Require certification and recertification of a
34 person, organization, or government agency that operates
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1 an emergency medical dispatch agency that meets the
2 minimum standards prescribed by the Department for an
3 emergency medical dispatch agency pursuant to this Act.
4 (3) (1) Prescribe minimum education and continuing
5 education requirements for the Emergency Medical
6 Dispatcher, which meet or exceed the national curriculum
7 of the United States Department of Transportation,
8 through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.;
9 (4) Require each EMD and EMD agency to report to
10 the Department whenever an action has taken place that
11 may require the revocation or suspension of a certificate
12 issued by the Department.
13 (5) Require each EMD to provide dispatch life
14 support (including prearrival instructions) in compliance
15 with the written text or scripts and other processes
16 within the approved EMDPRS, except that deviation from
17 the text or script may occur only for the express purpose
18 of clarifying the meaning or intent of a question or
19 facilitating the clear understanding of a required
20 action, instruction, or response from the caller.
21 (2) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to
22 notify the Department of the EMS System(s) in which he
23 operates;
24 (3) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher who
25 provides prearrival instructions to callers to comply
26 with the protocols for such instructions established by
27 the EMS Medical Director(s) and Emergency Telephone
28 System Board or Boards, or in the absence of an Emergency
29 Telephone System Board or Boards the governmental agency
30 performing the duties of an Emergency Telephone System
31 Board or Boards, of the EMS System or Systems in which he
32 operates;
33 (6) (4) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to
34 keep the Department currently informed as to the entity
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1 or agency that employs or supervises his activities as an
2 Emergency Medical Dispatcher.;
3 (5) (Blank). Establish a mechanism for phasing in
4 the Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements over a
5 five-year period;
6 (7) Establish an annual recertification requirement
7 that requires at least 12 hours of medical
8 dispatch-specific continuing education each year.
9 (8) Approve all EMDPRS protocols used by emergency
10 medical dispatch agencies to assure compliance with
11 national standards.
12 (9) Require that Department-approved emergency
13 medical dispatch training programs are conducted in
14 accordance with national standards and the National
15 Institutes of Health recommendations for emergency
16 medical dispatcher training, and shall include a written
17 examination approved by the Department that tests for
18 competency in the specific EMDPRS taught in the training
19 program.
20 (10) Require that the emergency medical dispatch
21 agency be operated in accordance with national standards,
22 including but not limited to:
23 (i) The use on every request for medical
24 assistance of an emergency medical dispatch priority
25 reference system (EMDPRS); and
26 (ii) Under the approval and supervision of the
27 EMS medical director, the establishment of a
28 continuous quality improvement program that measures
29 compliance with protocol through ongoing random case
30 review for each EMD and provides feedback to the
31 individuals and management of the EMS agency
32 regarding the level of compliance.
33 (11) Require that a person may not represent
34 himself or herself, nor may an agency or business
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1 represent an agent or employee of that agency or
2 business, as an emergency medical dispatcher unless
3 certified by the Department as an emergency medical
4 dispatcher.
5 (12) Require that a person, organization, or
6 government agency not represent itself as an emergency
7 medical dispatch agency unless the person, organization,
8 or government agency is certified by the Department as an
9 emergency medical dispatch agency.
10 (13) Require that a person, organization, or
11 government agency may not offer or conduct a training
12 course that is represented as a course for an emergency
13 medical dispatcher unless the person, organization, or
14 agency is approved by the Department to offer or conduct
15 that course.
16 (14) Require that Department-approved emergency
17 medical dispatcher training programs are conducted by
18 instructors that:
19 (i) are certified as emergency medical
20 dispatchers;
21 (ii) have completed a methods of instruction
22 course;
23 (iii) have previous experience in a medical
24 dispatch agency; and
25 (iv) have demonstrated experience as an EMS
26 instructor.
27 (15) (6) Establish criteria for modifying or
28 waiving Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements based
29 on (i) the scope and frequency of dispatch activities and
30 the dispatcher's access to training or (ii) whether the
31 previously-attended dispatcher training program merits
32 automatic recertification for the dispatcher.
33 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the
34 Department shall grant EMD certification or recertification
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1 without further examination to any person with a current
2 certification from any nationally approved dispatch course.
3 (Source: P.A. 89-177, eff. 7-19-95.)".
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