84R3205 JSC-D
 
  By: Bell H.B. No. 479
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to transfer of the regional emergency medical dispatch
  resource centers program to the Commission on State Emergency
  Communications.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 771.102(a) and (c), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission [center], with the assistance of the
  advisory council appointed under Section 773.012, shall administer
  the program in which [establish a program to use] emergency medical
  dispatchers located in regional emergency medical dispatch
  resource centers are used to provide life-saving and other
  emergency medical instructions to persons who need guidance while
  awaiting the arrival of emergency medical personnel.  The purpose
  of a regional emergency medical dispatch resource center is not to
  dispatch personnel or equipment resources but to serve as a
  resource to provide pre-arrival instructions that may be accessed
  by selected public safety answering points that are not adequately
  staffed or funded to provide those services.
         (c)  The commission [center], with the assistance of the
  advisory council, shall:
               (1)  design criteria and protocols and provide
  oversight as needed to conduct the program;
               (2)  collect the necessary data to evaluate the
  program; and
               (3)  report its findings to the legislature.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 771.103, 771.104, and 771.105, Health
  and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 771.103.  PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM. (a) The
  commission [center] shall determine which public safety answering
  points are interested in participating in the program.
         (b)  Participating public safety answering points must agree
  to participate in any required training and to provide regular
  reports required by the commission [center] for the program.
         Sec. 771.104.  SELECTION OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS AND
  REGIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH RESOURCE CENTERS. (a) The
  commission [center], with the assistance of the advisory council,
  may select public safety answering points to participate in the
  program or to serve as regional emergency medical dispatch resource
  centers.  A public safety answering point may participate in the
  program and serve as a regional emergency medical dispatch resource
  center.  A public safety answering point selected for the program or
  to serve as a resource center must:
               (1)  have a fully functional quality assurance program
  that measures each emergency medical dispatcher's compliance with
  the medical protocol;
               (2)  have dispatch personnel who meet the requirements
  for emergency medical dispatcher certification or the equivalent as
  determined by the Department of State Health Services;
               (3)  use emergency medical dispatch protocols approved
  by a physician medical director knowledgeable in emergency medical
  dispatch;
               (4)  have sufficient experience in providing
  pre-arrival instructions; and
               (5)  have sufficient resources to handle the additional
  workload and responsibilities of the program.
         (b)  In selecting an existing public safety answering point
  to act as a resource center, the commission [center] shall consider
  a public safety answering point's ability to keep records and
  produce reports to measure the effectiveness of the program.  The
  commission [center] shall share information regarding a public
  safety answering point's abilities with the advisory council.
         Sec. 771.105.  CRITERIA FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH
  INTERVENTION. The commission [center], with the assistance of the
  advisory council, shall define criteria that establish the need for
  emergency medical dispatch intervention to be used by participating
  public safety answering points to determine which calls are to be
  transferred to the regional emergency medical dispatch resource
  center for emergency medical dispatch intervention.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 771.106(a), (b), and (d), Health and
  Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  State [Money in the 9-1-1 services fee fund and other
  state] funds may be appropriated to [The University of Texas
  Medical Branch at Galveston on behalf of] the commission [center]
  to fund the program.
         (b)  The commission may [University of Texas Medical Branch
  at Galveston on behalf of the center and the center are also
  authorized to] seek grant funding for the program.
         (d)  The provisions in this subchapter that require the
  commission [center] to [establish,] conduct[,] and evaluate the
  program are contingent on the commission [center] receiving funding
  in accordance with this section.  If a sufficient number of
  political subdivisions in a region that could be served by a program
  offer to pay the commission [center] an amount that in the
  aggregate, together with any other funding received under this
  section, is sufficient to fund the program for the region, [The
  University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, on behalf of] the
  commission [center]:
               (1)  shall enter into contracts with the offering
  political subdivisions under which each will pay an appropriate
  share of the cost; and
               (2)  when the amount under the signed contracts,
  together with any other funding received under this section, is
  sufficient to fund the program for the region, shall implement the
  program for the region.
         SECTION 4.  Section 771.107, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 771.107.  REPORT TO LEGISLATURE.  The commission
  [center] shall biennially report its findings to the governor, the
  presiding officer of each house of the legislature, and the
  advisory council no later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year.
         SECTION 5.  Section 771.109(a), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission [center] may appoint a program work group
  to assist the commission [center] in [developing,] implementing[,]
  and evaluating the program and preparing a report on the
  commission's [center's] findings.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 771.101 and 771.102(b), Health and
  Safety Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 7.  (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Center" means the area health education center at
  The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston that meets the
  requirements of 42 U.S.C. Section 294a and has received federal
  funding as an area health education center.
               (2)  "Program" means the regional emergency medical
  dispatch resource centers program established under Subchapter E,
  Chapter 771, Health and Safety Code, as that subchapter existed
  before amendment by this Act.
         (b)  On the effective date of this Act, the administration of
  the program is transferred from the center to the Commission on
  State Emergency Communications and all unspent and unobligated
  funds appropriated by the legislature to The University of Texas
  Medical Branch at Galveston on behalf of the center to fund the
  program are transferred to the commission.
         (c)  The Commission on State Emergency Communications with
  the agreement of the center may accept the transfer of any records,
  employees, or real or personal property of the center relating to
  the operation of the program.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.