Today's Law As Amended


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AB-379 Emergency medical services.(2023-2024)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 1797.103 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1797.103.
 (a)  The authority shall develop planning and implementation guidelines for emergency medical services systems which address the following components:
(a)  (1)  Manpower and training.
(b)  (2)  Communications.
(c)  (3)  Transportation.
(d)  (4)  Assessment of hospitals and critical care centers.
(e)  (5)  System organization and management.
(f)  (6)  Data collection and evaluation.
(g)  (7)  Public information and education.
(h)  (8)  Disaster response.
(b) The planning and implementation guidelines shall include a list of standardized terminology for local emergency medical services agencies to use when granting exemptions for 911 response times. The list of standardized exemptions shall include common reasons for granting exemptions from 911 response times in the various emergency medical services areas of the state.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1797.120 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1797.120.
 (a) The authority shall develop, using input from stakeholders, including, but not limited to, hospitals, local EMS agencies, and public and private EMS providers, and, after approval by the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50, adopt a statewide standard methodology for the calculation and reporting by a local EMS agency of ambulance patient offload time.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “ambulance patient offload time” is defined as the interval between the arrival of an ambulance patient at an emergency department and the time that the patient is transferred to an emergency department gurney, bed, chair, or other acceptable location and the emergency department assumes responsibility for care of the patient.
(c) The authority shall develop an audit tool to improve data accuracy of transfer of care with validation from hospitals and local EMS agencies.

SECTION 1.SEC. 3.

 Section 1797.225 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1797.225.
 (a) A local EMS agency may shall  adopt policies and procedures for calculating and reporting ambulance patient offload time, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1797.120.
(b) A local EMS agency that adopts policies and procedures for calculating and reporting ambulance patient offload time pursuant to subdivision (a) shall do all of the following:
(1) Use the statewide standard methodology for calculating and reporting ambulance patient offload time developed by the authority pursuant to Section 1797.120.
(2) Establish criteria for the reporting of, and quality assurance followup for, a nonstandard patient offload time, as defined in subdivision (c).
(c) (1) For the purposes of this section, a “nonstandard patient offload time” means that the ambulance patient offload time for a patient exceeds a period of time designated in the criteria established by the local EMS agency pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).
(2) “Nonstandard patient offload time” does not include instances in which  when  the ambulance patient offload time exceeds the period set by the local EMS agency due to acts of God, natural disasters, or manmade disasters.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 1797.254 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

1797.254.
 (a)  (1)  Local EMS agencies shall annually submit an emergency medical services plan that includes the local EMS agency’s annual budget  for the EMS area to the authority, according to EMS Systems, Standards, and Guidelines established by the authority.
(2) The authority shall approve or request changes to the proposed plans within 90 days of receipt.
(b) (1) Each local EMS agency shall make the plan accessible on the agency’s internet website within 30 days of approval by the authority.
(2) The authority shall make each local EMS agency plan submitted to them accessible on the authority’s internet website within 30 days of approval by the authority.

SEC. 5.

 Section 1797.255 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

1797.255.
 (a) (1) Local EMS agencies, to the extent they have established 911 response times for EMS providers, shall include a list of exemptions from meeting 911 response times, if any, in the annual EMS plan required pursuant to Section 1797.254.
(2) As part of the annual EMS plan submitted to the authority, local EMS agencies shall disclose any exemptions from meeting 911 response times granted in the previous calendar year.
(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), when standardized terminology for exemptions is established by the authority pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1797.103, local EMS agencies shall utilize those standardized terms to the extent possible. Nothing in this section or in Section 1797.103 shall be construed to prohibit local EMS agencies from granting exemptions that do not use the terminology established by the authority when the reason for granting the exemption does not meet the terminology established by the authority. Nothing in this section or in Section 1797.103 shall prohibit a local EMS agency, when utilizing standardized terminology to grant exemptions from 911 response times, from including additional information or rationales when granting exemptions.