102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB1644

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Darren Bailey

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
210 ILCS 50/3.70

    Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning emergency medical dispatchers.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB1644LRB102 16675 CPF 22076 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems
5Act 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 a person who
9has successfully completed a training course in emergency
10medical dispatching in accordance with rules adopted by the
11Department pursuant to this Act, who accepts calls from the
12public for emergency medical services and dispatches
13designated emergency medical services personnel and vehicles.
14The Emergency Medical Dispatcher must use the
15Department-approved emergency medical dispatch priority
16reference system (EMDPRS) protocol selected for use by its
17agency and approved by its EMS medical director. This protocol
18must be used by an emergency medical dispatcher in an
19emergency medical dispatch agency to dispatch aid to medical
20emergencies which includes systematized caller interrogation
21questions; systematized prearrival support instructions; and
22systematized coding protocols that match the dispatcher's
23evaluation of the injury or illness severity with the vehicle

 

 

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1response mode and vehicle response configuration and includes
2an appropriate training curriculum and testing process
3consistent with the specific EMDPRS protocol used by the
4emergency medical dispatch agency. Prearrival support
5instructions shall be provided in a non-discriminatory manner
6and shall be provided in accordance with the EMDPRS
7established by the EMS medical director of the EMS system in
8which the EMD operates. If the dispatcher operates under the
9authority of an Emergency Telephone System Board established
10under the Emergency Telephone System Act, the protocols shall
11be established by such Board in consultation with the EMS
12Medical Director.
13    (b) The Department shall have the authority and
14responsibility to:
15        (1) Require licensure and relicensure of a person who
16    meets the training and other requirements as an emergency
17    medical dispatcher pursuant to this Act.
18        (2) Require licensure and relicensure of a person,
19    organization, or government agency that operates an
20    emergency medical dispatch agency that meets the minimum
21    standards prescribed by the Department for an emergency
22    medical dispatch agency pursuant to this Act.
23        (3) Prescribe minimum education and continuing
24    education requirements for the Emergency Medical
25    Dispatcher, which meet standards specified by rules
26    adopted pursuant to this Act.

 

 

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1        (4) Require each EMS Medical Director to report to the
2    Department whenever an action has taken place that may
3    require the revocation or suspension of a license issued
4    by the Department.
5        (5) Require each EMD to provide prearrival
6    instructions in compliance with protocols selected and
7    approved by the system's EMS medical director and approved
8    by the Department.
9        (6) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to keep
10    the Department currently informed as to the entity or
11    agency that employs or supervises his activities as an
12    Emergency Medical Dispatcher.
13        (7) Establish an annual relicensure requirement that
14    requires medical dispatch-specific continuing education as
15    prescribed by the Department through rules adopted
16    pursuant to this Act.
17        (8) Approve all EMDPRS protocols used by emergency
18    medical dispatch agencies to assure compliance with
19    national standards.
20        (9) Require that Department-approved emergency medical
21    dispatch training programs are conducted in accordance
22    with national standards.
23        (10) Require that the emergency medical dispatch
24    agency be operated in accordance with national standards,
25    including, but not limited to, (i) the use on every
26    request for medical assistance of an emergency medical

 

 

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1    dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) in accordance
2    with Department-approved policies and procedures and (ii)
3    under the approval and supervision of the EMS medical
4    director, the establishment of a continuous quality
5    improvement program.
6        (11) Require that a person may not represent himself
7    or herself, nor may an agency or business represent an
8    agent or employee of that agency or business, as an
9    emergency medical dispatcher unless licensed by the
10    Department as an emergency medical dispatcher.
11        (12) Require that a person, organization, or
12    government agency not represent itself as an emergency
13    medical dispatch agency unless the person, organization,
14    or government agency is certified by the Department as an
15    emergency medical dispatch agency.
16        (13) Require that a person, organization, or
17    government agency may not offer or conduct a training
18    course that is represented as a course for an emergency
19    medical dispatcher unless the person, organization, or
20    agency is approved by the Department to offer or conduct
21    that course.
22        (14) Require that Department-approved emergency
23    medical dispatcher training programs are conducted by
24    instructors licensed by the Department who:
25            (i) are, at a minimum, licensed as emergency
26        medical dispatchers;

 

 

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1            (ii) have completed a Department-approved course
2        on methods of instruction;
3            (iii) have previous experience in a medical
4        dispatch agency; and
5            (iv) have demonstrated experience as an EMS
6        instructor.
7        (15) Establish criteria for modifying or waiving
8    Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements based on (i) the
9    scope and frequency of dispatch activities and the
10    dispatcher's access to training or (ii) whether the
11    previously-attended dispatcher training program merits
12    automatic relicensure for the dispatcher.
13        (16) Charge each Emergency Medical Dispatcher
14    applicant a fee for licensure and license renewal.
15    (c) The Department shall have the authority to suspend,
16revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the license of an EMD when,
17after notice and the opportunity for an impartial hearing, the
18Department demonstrates that the licensee has violated this
19Act, violated the rules adopted by the Department, or failed
20to comply with the applicable standard of care.
21(Source: P.A. 98-973, eff. 8-15-14.)