SB 488 — Emergency Medical Services

Florida Senate - 2018 CS for SB 488 By Senatorthe GrimsleyCommittee 26-00482A-18on 2018488__Health APolicy; bill to be entitled An act relating to emergency medical services;

and Senator Grimsley 588-01808-18 2018488c1 A bill to be entitled An act relating to emergency medical services;

defining the termsterm “advanced life support nontransport services”services”; and “emergency”;

requiring that such governmental entities provide certain notice to counties and municipalities in their proposed service areas;

requiring the Department of Health to issue a license to an exempt entity under certain circumstances;

1418 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

1620 Section 1. Present subsections (2) through (10) and (11) through (21) of section 401.23, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (3) through (11)(22), respectively, and (13)a through (23), respectively, new subsectionssubsection (2) andis (12) are added to that section, present subsection (19) of that section is amended, and subsection (1) of that section is republished, to read:

(2) “Advanced life support nontransport services” means the provision of services defined in subsection (1) in an emergency by a licensee until the arrival of an air ambulance or an ambulance provided by another entity thatwhich is used for, or intended to be used for, landland, air, or water transportation of sick or injured persons requiring or likely to require medical attention during transport.

(12) “Emergency”For the purpose of this subsection, “emergency” means a situation in which a person has a medical condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of such severity, including severe pain, that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the person’s health or result in serious impairment to bodily functions or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

(21)(19) “Physician”(20)(19) “Physician” means a practitioner who is licensed under the provisions of chapter 458 or chapter 459.

Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 401.25, Florida Statutes, is amendedamended, and subsection (8) is added to that section, to read:

However, notwithstanding, any general law, special act, or ordinance of a local government to the contrary, except as provided in subparagraph 4., a governmental entity that maintains fire rescue infrastructure and provides first responders as defined in s.

2. If a countywide common medical protocol restricts or limits the ability of thea governmental entity to provide advanced life support nontransport services,services without a certificate of public convenience and necessity, the governmental entity must meet only the requirements of this chapter and applicable department rules to obtain its license.

3. A governmental entity intendingthat intends to provide advanced life support nontransport services without a certificate of public convenience and necessity must notify the county and municipalities in its proposed service area of its submission of an application to the state.

4. The exception to the certificate of public convenience and necessity requirement in this paragraph does not apply to a county in which there is a countywide emergency medical services authority created by special act.act or a governmental entity that contracts with a private entity to provide fire rescue services.

(8) If a license is issued without a certificate of public convenience and necessity, as authorized in paragraph (2)(d), the department must issue such license so that the licensee may provide only advanced life support nontransport services.

Vehicle permits issued to such a licensee pursuant to section 401.26 must be for nontransport only.