By:  Barrientos                                        S.B. No. 184
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the regulation of certain air transfer vehicles and
    1-2  staff as emergency medical services vehicles.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 773.004, Health and
    1-5  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
    1-6        (a)  This chapter does not apply to:
    1-7              (1)  a ground <or air> transfer vehicle and staff used
    1-8  to transport a patient who is under a physician's care between
    1-9  medical facilities or between a medical facility and a private
   1-10  residence;
   1-11              (2)  ground or air transfer that does not advertise as
   1-12  an ambulance service and that is not licensed by the department;
   1-13              (3)  the use of ground or air transfer vehicles to
   1-14  transport sick or injured persons in a casualty situation that
   1-15  exceeds the basic vehicular capacity or capability of emergency
   1-16  medical services providers in the area;
   1-17              (4)  an industrial ambulance; or
   1-18              (5)  a physician, registered nurse, or other health
   1-19  care practitioner licensed by this state unless the health care
   1-20  practitioner staffs an emergency medical services vehicle
   1-21  regularly.
   1-22        SECTION 2.  Section 773.045, Health and Safety Code, is
   1-23  amended to read as follows:
   1-24        Sec. 773.045.  SPECIALIZED EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES VEHICLE
    2-1  QUALIFICATIONS.  (a)  A vehicle, including a helicopter, boat,
    2-2  fixed-wing aircraft, or ground vehicle, qualifies as a specialized
    2-3  emergency medical services vehicle if it:
    2-4              (1)  is designed for transporting the sick or injured
    2-5  by air, water, or ground transportation; and
    2-6              (2)  <is not a basic or advanced life-support emergency
    2-7  medical services vehicle or a mobile intensive-care unit; and>
    2-8              <(3)>  has sufficient equipment and supplies to provide
    2-9  for the specialized needs of the patient transported.
   2-10        (b)  A fixed-wing aircraft and staff used to transport a
   2-11  patient by stretcher and that advertises as an air ambulance
   2-12  service is required to be licensed by the department.
   2-13        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-14  However, a person is not required to obtain a license required
   2-15  under this Act until January 1, 1994.
   2-16        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-17  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-18  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-19  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-20  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.