Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 511-9-2-.09 - Licensure of Medical First Responder Services
(1)
Applicability.
(a) No person shall operate,
advertise, or hold themselves out to be a Medical First Responder Service, or
advertise as such in the state of Georgia without first meeting the following
requirements and being duly licensed by the Department.
(b) However, the provisions of this chapter
shall not apply to:
1. Any first responder
unit operated by an agency of the United States government.
2. Any rescue organization licensed by the
Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, including its
individual members.
3. Any person
or designated first responder unit directly requested to the scene of an
emergency by an appropriate public safety agency or ambulance service for the
purpose of rendering on-site care, rescue or extrication, until the arrival of
a duly licensed Ground Ambulance Service, Air Ambulance Service, or duly
licensed Medical First Responder Service. This includes agencies routinely
requested to the scene in this manner that cannot or choose not to meet the
requirements of these rules.
4. Any
supervisory vehicle of a licensed ambulance service.
5. A person rendering assistance temporarily
in the case of a major catastrophe, disaster, or public health emergency which
is beyond the capability of licensed Medical First Responder Services or
licensed Ground Ambulance Services.
(2) Application for a License. Application
for a license or provisional license shall be made to the license officer in
the manner and on the forms approved by the Department to include at a minimum
the name, address, email address, and employer identification number of the
owner(s).
(3) Renewal of License.
Renewal of any license issued under the provisions of the rules shall require
conformance with all the requirements of these rules as upon original
licensing.
(a) Any license not renewed prior
to the license expiration date is considered "Lapsed-Failure to Renew" and is
not permitted to operate as a Medical First Responder Service. Late renewal is
permitted during the three (3)-month period immediately following the
expiration date for the last license renewal cycle. After that three-month
period, and the agency must apply as a new applicant in accordance with
applicable rules and regulations.
(4) Standards for Medical First Responder
Vehicles.
(a) General.
1. Registered Medical First Responder
Vehicles must be maintained on suitable premises that meet the Department's
specifications. The Department is authorized to establish policy to define
minimum standards for suitable premises and base of operations. The registered
Medical First Responder Vehicle must be properly equipped, maintained, and
operated in accordance with other Rules and Regulations contained
herein.
2. All registered Medical
First Responder Vehicles must be equipped with approved safety belts for all
seats.
3. Registered Medical First
Responder Vehicles must be inspected and approved by the Department and so
designated by affixing a Department decal at a location specified by the
Department.
4. Each Medical First
Responder Service may place up to one-third (rounded to nearest whole number)
of its registered Medical First Responder vehicles in reserve status. When a
Reserve Medical First Responder vehicle is placed in service (ready to respond
to an emergency call) it must meet the provisions of these rules and policies
of the Department.
5. Prior to
disposal by sale or otherwise, a registered Medical First Responder Vehicle
removed from service must be reported to the Department.
(b) Insurance.
1. Every registered Medical First Responder
Vehicle shall have at least $1,000,000 combined single limit (CSL) insurance
coverage.
2. No Medical First
Responder Vehicle shall be registered nor shall any registration be renewed
unless the vehicle has insurance coverage in force as required by this section.
A certificate of insurance or satisfactory evidence of self-insurance shall be
submitted to the license officer for approval prior to the issuance or renewal
of each Medical First Responder Service license. Satisfactory evidence that
such insurance is at all times in force and effect shall be furnished to the
Department, in a manner and on forms specified by the Department, by all
licensees required to provide proof of such insurance under this section. Any
lapse in insurance coverage will lead to immediate revocation of the Medical
First Responder Service license.
3.
Medical First Responder Services must maintain a file, as defined in
departmental policy, of all maintenance records on each vehicle registered by
the Department.
4. The Medical
First Responder Service must list the Georgia Office of EMS and Trauma as an
additional certificate holder for the vehicle insurance with the insurance
company.
(c)
Communication.
1. All Medical First Responder
Services shall have two-way communication between the vehicle and the location
receiving requests for emergency service.
(d) Infectious Disease Exposure Control.
1. Each Medical First Responder Service shall
have a written infectious disease exposure control plan approved by the local
Medical Director.
2. Medical First
Responder Services and Emergency Medical Services Personnel shall comply with
all applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations in regard to
infectious disease control procedures.
(e) Equipment and Supplies.
1. All equipment and supplies must be
maintained in working order and shall be stored in an orderly manner and shall
be readily accessible when needed.
2. Supplies may not be used after their
expiration date.
3. In order to
substitute any item from the required items written approval must be obtained
from the Department. The Department shall have authority to grant exceptions
and substitutions and shall maintain and distribute an up-to-date policy
listing of all approved exceptions and substitutions.
4. The Department shall through policy
establish the minimum equipment and supplies required on Medical First
Responder Vehicles; however, other equipment and supplies may be added as
desired.
(5)
General Provisions: Medical First Responder Services.
(a) Each registered Medical First Responder
Vehicle when on an emergency call shall be manned by at least one Medic. If
Advanced Life Support is being rendered, there must be at least one Emergency
Medical Technician - Intermediate, Advanced Emergency Medical Technician,
Cardiac Technician or Paramedic responsible for patient care.
(b) Medical First Responder Services shall be
provided on a twenty-four hour, seven day a week basis.
(c) Personnel shall be available at all times
to receive emergency telephone calls and provide two-way
communications.
(d) Sufficient
licensed personnel shall be immediately available to respond with at least one
registered Medical First Responder Vehicle. When the first registered Medical
First Responder Vehicle is on a call, Medical First Responder Services shall
respond to each additional emergency call within their designated geographic
territory as requested providing a Medic and a registered Medical First
Responder Vehicle are available. If a Medic and a registered Medical First
Responder Vehicle are not available, the Medical First Responder Service shall
request mutual aid assistance. If mutual aid assistance is not available the
Medical First Responder Service shall respond with its next available
registered Medical First Responder Vehicle.
(e) The driver of a registered Medical First
Responder Vehicle, when responding to an emergency call, is authorized to
operate the vehicle as an emergency vehicle pursuant to the provisions of
O.C.G.A. §
40-6-6.
(f) Medical Direction for Medical First
Responder Services.
1. To enhance the
provision of emergency medical care, each Medical First Responder Service shall
be required to have a Medical Director. The Medical Director shall be a
physician licensed to practice medicine in this state, must complete Department
required training, and must be approved by the Department. The local Medical
Director must agree in writing to provide medical direction to that particular
Medical First Responder Service.
2.
The local Medical Director shall serve as the medical authority for the Medical
First Responder Service, serving as a liaison between the service and the
medical community, medical facilities and governmental entities.
3. It will be the responsibility of the local
Medical Director to provide medical direction and training for the Medical
First Responder Service personnel in conformance with acceptable emergency
medical practices and procedures.
4. Duties of the local Medical Director shall
include but not be limited to the following:
(i) The approval of policies and procedures
affecting patient care;
(ii) The
formulation of medical protocols and communication protocols;
(iii) The formulation and evaluation of
training objectives;
(iv)
Performance evaluation;
(v)
Continuous quality improvement of patient care; and
(vi) Development and implementation of
policies and procedures for requesting air ambulance transport.
5. The Medical Director of a
Medical First Responder Service must coordinate the medical protocols and
procedures of the service with the Medical Director of the designated Ground
Ambulance Service in the Regional Ambulance Zoning Plan.
6. Each Medical First Responder Service shall
have a minimum set of clinical guidelines and/or protocols for the assessment
and treatment of both adult and pediatric patients as specified by the
Department.
7. All Emergency
Medical Services Personnel shall comply with appropriate policies, protocols,
requirements, and standards of local Medical Director for that service,
provided that such policies and protocols are not in conflict with these Rules
and Regulations, the Department-specified Scope of Practice, or other state
statutes.
(g) Control of
patient care at the scene of an emergency shall be the responsibility of the
individual in attendance most appropriately trained and knowledgeable in
providing prehospital emergency care and transportation. When a Medic arrives
at the scene of a medical emergency, the Medic may act as an agent of a
physician when a physician-patient relationship has been established.
1. For purposes of this section, a
physician-patient relationship has been established when:
(i) A Medic utilizes medical control, either
through direct on-line medical control or off-line medical control, by the use
of medical protocols established by the local Medical Director; or
(ii) A physician is on the scene and
demonstrates a willingness to assume responsibility for patient management or
purports to be the patient's personal physician and the Medic takes reasonable
steps to immediately verify the medical credentials of the physician.
2. Once a physician-patient
relationship has been established, the Medic must follow the medical direction
of that physician. In the event of a conflict between the medical direction
given and the medical protocols established by the local Medical Director, the
Medic should immediately contact their local Medical Director.
(h) Medical First Responder
Services and applicants for Medical First Responder Services shall not
misrepresent or falsify any information, applications, forms or data filed with
or submitted to the Department.
(i)
Medical First Responder Services shall not utilize as Medics, individuals who
are not properly licensed under the applicable provisions of O.C.G.A. Chapter
31-11 and these Rules and Regulations.
(j) Medical First Responder Services are
required to notify the dispatch center designated by the Regional Ambulance
Zoning Plan as responsible for distributing Ground Ambulance calls prior to
departure on any direct calls received.
(6) CLIA Certification
(a) All Medical First Responder Services must
maintain current CLIA certification as a laboratory that is permitted to
perform waived tests, as defined in
42 CFR §
493.2.
1.
Documentation regarding this certification must be submitted to the Department
in a manner and on forms specified by the Department.
2. Medical First Responder Services who do
not hold additional licensure as a Ground Ambulance Service, Air Ambulance
Service, or Neonatal Transport Service, shall be exempt from the requirement to
maintain a current CLIA certificate, provided that:
(i) The Medical First Responder Service
submits an attestation that no Medic or other person employed by or acting on
behalf of the Medical First Responder Service will be permitted to examine
materials derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information
for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease or impairment of, or
the assessment of the health of, human beings.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.