Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman LOUIS D. GREENWALD
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Thomson, S.Kean and Stanley
SYNOPSIS
Permits volunteer paramedics to operate within mobile intensive care units.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning emergency medical services and amending and supplementing P.L.1984, c.146.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1984, c.146 (C.26:2K-7) is amended to read as follows:
1. As used in this act:
a. "Advanced life support" means an advanced level of pre-hospital, inter-hospital, and emergency service care which includes basic life support functions, cardiac monitoring, cardiac defibrillation, telemetered electrocardiography, administration of anti-arrhythmic agents, intravenous therapy, administration of specific medications, drugs and solutions, use of adjunctive ventilation devices, trauma care and other techniques and procedures authorized in writing by the commissioner;
b. "Board of Medical Examiners" means the State Board of Medical Examiners;
c. "Board of Nursing" means the New Jersey Board of Nursing;
d. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the State Department of Health;
e. "Department" means the State Department of Health;
f. "Emergency service" means a program in a hospital staffed 24 hours a day by a licensed physician trained in emergency medicine;
g. "Inter-hospital care" means those emergency medical services rendered by mobile intensive care units to emergency patients before and during transportation between emergency treatment facilities, and upon arrival within those facilities;
h. "Mobile intensive care paramedic" means a person trained in advanced life support services and certified by the commissioner to render advanced life support services as part of a mobile intensive care unit;
i. "Mobile intensive care unit" means a specialized emergency medical service vehicle staffed by mobile intensive care paramedics or registered professional nurses trained in advanced life support nursing and operated for the provision of advanced life support services under the direction of an authorized hospital;
j. "Pre-hospital care" means those emergency medical services rendered by mobile intensive care units to emergency patients before and during transportation to emergency treatment facilities, and upon arrival within those facilities.
k. “Volunteer paramedic unit” means an operational subunit within a mobile intensive care unit that is exclusively staffed by at least two volunteer paramedics with access to any vehicle, including a personal vehicle.
(cf: P.L.1984, c.146, s.1)
2. Section 4 of P.L.1984, c.146 (C.26:2K-10) is amended to read as follows:
4. A mobile intensive care paramedic may perform advanced life support services, provided [they maintain] that the paramedic is following a standing order or the paramedic maintains direct voice communication with and [are] is taking orders from a licensed physician or physician directed registered professional nurse, both of whom are affiliated with a mobile intensive care hospital which is approved by the commissioner to provide advanced life support services. A telemetered electrocardiogram shall be monitored when deemed appropriate by the licensed physician or when required by written rules and regulations established by the mobile intensive care hospital and approved by the commissioner.
(cf: P.L.1984, c.146, s.4)
3. (New section) a. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, members of a volunteer paramedic unit may respond to an emergency jointly or separately.
(2) The first member of a volunteer paramedic unit to respond to an emergency may provide aid prior to the arrival of the second member of a volunteer paramedic if necessary.
(3) The first member of a volunteer paramedic unit to respond to an emergency may cancel the response of a second member of a volunteer paramedic unit to the emergency if the aid of a second member of a volunteer paramedic unit is unnecessary.
b. (1) Members of a volunteer paramedic unit shall be dressed professionally and shall wear identification identifying members as paramedics.
(2) Members of a volunteer paramedic unit shall not be required to respond to an emergency dressed in a uniform issued by the mobile intensive care unit.
4. (New section) The Commissioner of Health may adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill permits volunteer paramedics to operate within mobile intensive care units.
The bill defines “volunteer paramedic unit” to mean an operational subunit within a mobile intensive care unit that is exclusively staffed by at least two volunteer paramedics with access to any vehicle, including a personal vehicle.
The bill provides that members of a volunteer paramedic unit may respond to an emergency jointly or separately. The first member of a volunteer paramedic unit to respond to an emergency may provide aid prior to the arrival of the second member of a volunteer paramedic if necessary. The first member of a volunteer paramedic unit to respond to an emergency may cancel the response of a second member of a volunteer paramedic unit to the emergency if the first member determines the aid of a second member of a volunteer paramedic unit is unnecessary.
The bill provides that members of a volunteer paramedic unit are to be dressed professionally and to wear identification that identifies the members as paramedics. Members of a volunteer paramedic unit are not to be required to respond to an emergency dressed in a uniform issued by the mobile intensive care unit.
Under the bill, a mobile intensive care paramedic may perform advanced life support services, provided that the paramedic is following a standing order.