Public Act 097-0509
 
HB3255 EnrolledLRB097 09107 RPM 49242 b

    AN ACT concerning health facilities.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act
is amended by changing Section 3.50 as follows:
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.50)
    Sec. 3.50. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Licensure.
    (a) "Emergency Medical Technician-Basic" or "EMT-B" means
a person who has successfully completed a course of instruction
in basic life support as prescribed by the Department, is
currently licensed by the Department in accordance with
standards prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, and practices within an EMS
System.
    (b) "Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate" or "EMT-I"
means a person who has successfully completed a course of
instruction in intermediate life support as prescribed by the
Department, is currently licensed by the Department in
accordance with standards prescribed by this Act and rules
adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act, and practices
within an Intermediate or Advanced Life Support EMS System.
    (c) "Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic" or "EMT-P"
means a person who has successfully completed a course of
instruction in advanced life support care as prescribed by the
Department, is licensed by the Department in accordance with
standards prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, and practices within an
Advanced Life Support EMS System.
    (d) The Department shall have the authority and
responsibility to:
        (1) Prescribe education and training requirements,
    which includes training in the use of epinephrine, for all
    levels of EMT, based on the respective national curricula
    of the United States Department of Transportation and any
    modifications to such curricula specified by the
    Department through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
        (2) Prescribe licensure testing requirements for all
    levels of EMT, which shall include a requirement that all
    phases of instruction, training, and field experience be
    completed before taking the EMT licensure examination.
    Candidates may elect to take the National Registry of
    Emergency Medical Technicians examination in lieu of the
    Department's examination, but are responsible for making
    their own arrangements for taking the National Registry
    examination.
        (2.5) Review applications for EMT licensure from
    honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the
    United States with military emergency medical training.
    Applications shall be filed with the Department within one
    year after military discharge and shall contain: (i) proof
    of successful completion of military emergency medical
    training; (ii) a detailed description of the emergency
    medical curriculum completed; and (iii) a detailed
    description of the applicant's clinical experience. The
    Department may request additional and clarifying
    information. The Department shall evaluate the
    application, including the applicant's training and
    experience, consistent with the standards set forth under
    subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 3.10. If the
    application clearly demonstrates that the training and
    experience meets such standards, the Department shall
    offer the applicant the opportunity to successfully
    complete a Department-approved EMT examination for which
    the applicant is qualified. Upon passage of an examination,
    the Department shall issue a license, which shall be
    subject to all provisions of this Act that are otherwise
    applicable to the class of EMT license issued.
        (3) License individuals as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P
    who have met the Department's education, training and
    examination requirements.
        (4) Prescribe annual continuing education and
    relicensure requirements for all levels of EMT.
        (5) Relicense individuals as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P
    every 4 years, based on their compliance with continuing
    education and relicensure requirements. An Illinois
    licensed Emergency Medical Technician whose license has
    been expired for less than 36 months may apply for
    reinstatement by the Department. Reinstatement shall
    require that the applicant (i) submit satisfactory proof of
    completion of continuing medical education and clinical
    requirements to be prescribed by the Department in an
    administrative rule; (ii) submit a positive recommendation
    from an Illinois EMS Medical Director attesting to the
    applicant's qualifications for retesting; and (iii) pass a
    Department approved test for the level of EMT license
    sought to be reinstated.
        (6) Grant inactive status to any EMT who qualifies,
    based on standards and procedures established by the
    Department in rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
        (7) Charge a fee for EMT examination, licensure, and
    license renewal.
        (8) Suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the
    license of any licensee, after an opportunity for an
    impartial hearing before a neutral administrative law
    judge appointed by the Director, where the preponderance of
    the evidence shows one or more of the following:
            (A) The licensee has not met continuing education
        or relicensure requirements as prescribed by the
        Department;
            (B) The licensee has failed to maintain
        proficiency in the level of skills for which he or she
        is licensed;
            (C) The licensee, during the provision of medical
        services, engaged in dishonorable, unethical, or
        unprofessional conduct of a character likely to
        deceive, defraud, or harm the public;
            (D) The licensee has failed to maintain or has
        violated standards of performance and conduct as
        prescribed by the Department in rules adopted pursuant
        to this Act or his or her EMS System's Program Plan;
            (E) The licensee is physically impaired to the
        extent that he or she cannot physically perform the
        skills and functions for which he or she is licensed,
        as verified by a physician, unless the person is on
        inactive status pursuant to Department regulations;
            (F) The licensee is mentally impaired to the extent
        that he or she cannot exercise the appropriate
        judgment, skill and safety for performing the
        functions for which he or she is licensed, as verified
        by a physician, unless the person is on inactive status
        pursuant to Department regulations;
            (G) The licensee has violated this Act or any rule
        adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act; or
            (H) The licensee has been convicted (or entered a
        plea of guilty or nolo-contendere) by a court of
        competent jurisdiction of a Class X, Class 1, or Class
        2 felony in this State or an out-of-state equivalent
        offense.
        (9) An EMT who is a member of the Illinois National
    Guard, an Illinois State Trooper, or exclusively serves as
    a volunteer for units of local government with a population
    base of less than 5,000 or as a volunteer for a
    not-for-profit organization that serves a service area
    with a population base of less than 5,000 may submit an
    application to the Department for a waiver of these fees on
    a form prescribed by the Department.
    The education requirements prescribed by the Department
under this subsection must allow for the suspension of those
requirements in the case of a member of the armed services or
reserve forces of the United States or a member of the Illinois
National Guard who is on active duty pursuant to an executive
order of the President of the United States, an act of the
Congress of the United States, or an order of the Governor at
the time that the member would otherwise be required to fulfill
a particular education requirement. Such a person must fulfill
the education requirement within 6 months after his or her
release from active duty.
    (e) In the event that any rule of the Department or an EMS
Medical Director that requires testing for drug use as a
condition for EMT licensure conflicts with or duplicates a
provision of a collective bargaining agreement that requires
testing for drug use, that rule shall not apply to any person
covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(Source: P.A. 96-540, eff. 8-17-09; 96-1149, eff. 7-21-10;
96-1469, eff. 1-1-11; revised 9-16-10.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.