1-1 By: Dunnam (Senate Sponsor - Moncrief) H.B. No. 3312 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 2, 2001; 1-3 May 3, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 10, 2001, reported favorably by 1-5 the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 10, 2001, sent to 1-6 printer.) 1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-8 AN ACT 1-9 relating to establishing a pilot program for state emergency 1-10 medical dispatch resource centers. 1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-12 SECTION 1. Chapter 771, Health and Safety Code, is amended by 1-13 adding Subchapter E to read as follows: 1-14 SUBCHAPTER E. STATE EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH RESOURCE CENTER 1-15 Sec. 771.101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The Texas 1-16 Department of Health, with the assistance of the advisory council 1-17 appointed under Section 773.012, shall establish a pilot program to 1-18 test the efficacy of using emergency medical dispatchers located in 1-19 a regional emergency medical dispatch resource center to provide 1-20 life-saving and other emergency medical instructions to persons who 1-21 need guidance while awaiting the arrival of emergency medical 1-22 personnel. The purpose of a regional emergency medical dispatch 1-23 resource center is not to dispatch personnel or equipment resources 1-24 but to serve as a resource to provide pre-arrival instructions that 1-25 may be accessed by selected public safety answering points that are 1-26 not adequately staffed or funded to provide those services. 1-27 (b) The commission shall provide technical assistance to the 1-28 department to facilitate the implementation of the pilot project. 1-29 (c) The department, with the cooperation of the advisory 1-30 council, shall: 1-31 (1) design criteria and protocols and provide 1-32 oversight as needed to conduct the pilot program; 1-33 (2) collect the necessary data to evaluate the outcome 1-34 of the pilot program; and 1-35 (3) report its findings to the legislature. 1-36 Sec. 771.102. PARTICIPATION IN PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The Texas 1-37 Department of Health shall determine which public safety answering 1-38 points are interested in participating in the pilot program. 1-39 (b) The department shall establish criteria for selecting 1-40 qualified public safety answering points to participate in the 1-41 pilot program. 1-42 (c) Participating public safety answering points must agree 1-43 to participate in any required training and to provide regular 1-44 reports required by the department for the pilot program. 1-45 Sec. 771.103. SELECTION OF REGIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL 1-46 DISPATCH RESOURCE CENTER. (a) The Texas Department of Health, with 1-47 the assistance of the advisory council, shall select one public 1-48 safety answering point to serve as the regional emergency medical 1-49 dispatch resource center. The public safety answering point 1-50 selected as the resource center for the pilot program must: 1-51 (1) have a fully functional quality assurance program 1-52 that measures each emergency medical dispatcher's compliance with 1-53 the medical protocol; 1-54 (2) have dispatch personnel who meet the requirements 1-55 for emergency medical dispatcher certification or the equivalent as 1-56 determined by the Texas Department of Health; 1-57 (3) use emergency medical dispatch protocols approved 1-58 by a physician medical director knowledgeable in emergency medical 1-59 dispatch; 1-60 (4) have sufficient experience in providing 1-61 pre-arrival instructions; and 1-62 (5) have sufficient resources to handle the additional 1-63 workload and responsibilities of the pilot program. 1-64 (b) In selecting an existing public safety answering point 2-1 to act as the resource center, the department and the advisory 2-2 council shall consider a public safety answering point's ability to 2-3 keep records and produce reports to measure the effectiveness of 2-4 the pilot program. 2-5 Sec. 771.104. CRITERIA FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH 2-6 INTERVENTION. The department and the advisory council shall define 2-7 criteria that establish the need for emergency medical dispatch 2-8 intervention to be used by participating public safety answering 2-9 points to determine which calls are to be transferred to the 2-10 regional emergency medical dispatch resource center for emergency 2-11 medical dispatch intervention. 2-12 Sec. 771.105. FUNDING OF PILOT PROGRAM. Money in the 9-1-1 2-13 services fee fund may be appropriated to the Texas Department of 2-14 Health to fund the pilot program. 2-15 Sec. 771.106. REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. The department shall 2-16 report its findings to the presiding officer of each house of the 2-17 legislature no later than December 1, 2002. 2-18 Sec. 771.107. LIABILITY. The operations of the regional 2-19 emergency medical dispatch resource center are considered to be the 2-20 provision of 9-1-1 services for purposes of Section 771.053. 2-21 Employees of and volunteers at the center have the same protection 2-22 from liability as a member of the governing body of a public agency 2-23 under Section 771.053. 2-24 Sec. 771.108. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires September 2-25 1, 2003. 2-26 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. 2-27 * * * * *