DOH and other state agencies and EMS partners, convened a task force in 1998 to study the current EMS Act of 1985 and make recommendations for improvements to DOH.
The Act 45 rewrite was first released in September 2005. Throughout 2006 and spring of 2007, DOH conducted over 55 statewide stakeholder meetings to solicit input and make revisions to the draft, which was posted on DOH s website for the public s review and response as well. After stakeholder input, negotiations and revisions, the final draft was posted to the website in May 2007.
In February of 2009 Senator Baker and Representative Melio both introduced SB 240 and HB 468. Deputy Secretary of Health Huff and Commonwealth Bureau of EMS Director Schmider gave testimony on the development process used to create this legislation. Since the Bill was introduced there were only 4 technical amendments.
Throughout the review process there was strong support from all Commonwealth EMS organizations and medical societies.
Representative Cohen requested additional language is added to the draft rewrite of the EMS Act that would give more time for returning military service personnel that are certified by the Bureau of EMS to become recertified. This language was developed by the Bureau of EMS, Department legal office and agreed upon by Representative Chen. The new language has been added into SB 240.
SB 240 will provide the education and skills for the currently 53,000 certified EMS providers, to provide state of the art emergency care throughout the Commonwealth. This vehicle will also allow for the growth of the EMS system within the Commonwealth to meet current and future emergency care needs for all citizens and visitors.
Key enhancements of the EMS Act rewrite includes:
- The designation of EMS services as a vital component of the public health and safety system;
- Enhancements on the development of a full EMS delivery system within the Commonwealth;
- Process for expanded scope practice meets national standards;
- The creation of new EMS provider and service levels to include EMS vehicle operators, advanced EMTs and Pre-hospital Physician Extenders.
- Peer review for quality improvement programs within EMS services.
