2012 Delaware Code
Title 16 - Health and Safety
CHAPTER 97. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SYSTEMS
§ 9705. Office of Emergency Medical Services -- Functions.

(a) Personnel. -- It shall be the responsibility of the Office to collect and analyze annually data pertaining to certified emergency medical services personnel in Delaware by levels of training in order to identify possible or potential shortages. Once EMS personnel shortages are identified, the Office shall notify the affected agencies and provide recommended courses of action to alleviate the problem or potential problem. In order to accomplish this task, the following agencies shall be required to provide a listing of the appropriate emergency medical services personnel by organization, level of training and county:

(1) Delaware State Fire Prevention Commission or its duly authorized representative;

(2) Wilmington Medical Center School for Emergency Medical Technicians;

(3) Delaware Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons -- advanced trauma life support;

(4) American Heart Association of Delaware -- cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training programs and advanced cardiac life support;

(5) American Red Cross, Delaware Chapter -- CPR training and first-aid training;

(6) Delaware Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians;

(7) Delaware Chapter of the Emergency Department Nurses Association; and

(8) Any other organization not listed above that provides certified emergency medical training, including CPR.

(b) Training. -- All organizations providing emergency medical training programs, as listed under the personnel section, shall provide to the Office copies of course curricula and schedules of the availability of training courses. The Office shall monitor EMS training levels to provide information on the availability of training programs for all levels of EMS personnel. In addition, the EMS Office shall keep abreast of all federal training standards to ensure that EMS training agencies in Delaware are aware of regional and national standards. In accordance with § 6711(a)(3) [repealed] of this title, the State Fire Prevention Commission shall adopt regulations setting forth the qualifications required for the certification of ambulance attendants. Since advanced life support ambulance personnel are "physicians' assistants" as defined in subchapter VI of Chapter 17 of Title 24, they must have been trained in programs approved by the Delaware State Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline.

(c) Communications. -- The Office shall:

(1) Through the appropriate county dispatch center directors, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the statewide EMS communications system;

(2) Identify resources to improve or augment both the communications system in Delaware and the training of medical dispatchers as needed;

(3) Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of emergency access numbers in terms of the impact on the EMS system.

(d) Transportation. -- In conjunction with appropriate EMS providers in Delaware, the Office shall monitor and evaluate emergency medical transportation services in Delaware to ensure that patients in the EMS system have access to effective and efficient transportation to appropriate treatment facilities. Pursuant to § 6709 of this title, all ambulances in Delaware shall be inspected and certified by the Delaware State Fire Prevention Commission or a duly authorized representative thereof. The Delaware State Fire Prevention Commission or its duly authorized representative shall be required to provide to the Office on an annual basis a listing and location of certified ambulances.

(e) Facilities. -- The Office shall monitor the availability of the various levels of care of EMS facilities and services and shall have the authority to categorize all Delaware emergency receiving facilities and services in accordance with criteria established by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) for hospital settings and other appropriate national professional organizations for nonhospital settings. This authority shall also include the responsibility of categorizing and designating by level of care, when appropriate, specialty care facilities in accordance with the established criteria of the American Medical Association or other appropriate national professional organizations. In addition, the Office shall periodically re-evaluate the categorization or designation of emergency care facilities and specialty care services.

(f) Specialty care units. -- The Office shall identify the categorization of the 7 specialty care areas for EMS which are available to all patients (the specialty care areas are: Trauma, burns, spinal cord, poisoning, acute cardiac, high-risk infant and behavioral emergencies). In addition, the Office shall coordinate the activities of the EMS system to ensure that all patients have access, within a reasonable time period depending on the nature of the illness, to specialty care services. In accordance with this activity, the Office shall have the authority to designate or categorize specialty care units by level of care as specified in the section related to facilities.

(g) Public safety agencies. -- Based on the data obtained in the section related to personnel, the Office shall monitor and evaluate the activities of public safety agencies to determine the number of trained first responders and to promote their participation, to the maximum level possible consistent with their capabilities, in emergency medical situations.

(h) Consumer participation. -- All agencies and organizations involved in the EMS system in Delaware should seek reasonable consumer participation in planning, development and organizational activities.

(i) Access to care. -- The Office shall monitor and evaluate activities of all EMS organizations to ensure that no person is denied emergency treatment or transportation services.

(j) Patient transfer. -- The EMS system shall provide for transfer of patients to facilities and programs which offer such follow-up care and rehabilitation as is necessary to effect the maximum recovery of the patient. The transfer of emergency patients from the emergency site to the emergency department, specialty care unit and to follow-up care and rehabilitation centers are all within the scope of a total EMS system.

(k) Coordinated patient recordkeeping. -- The Office shall collect and analyze available data from all providers of the EMS system. This data will be used by the Office, in conjunction with the appropriate EMS providers, to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the system. It is necessary that the data be collected from each level of care, which includes the initial entry point through final discharge from the health care delivery system. EMS agency certification will be contingent upon agency participation in the Statewide EMS data collection system maintained by the Office.

(l) Public information, prevention and education. -- The Office shall provide programs of public information and education designed to inform residents of Delaware and visitors to the State of the availability of, proper use of and access to emergency medical services. The Office shall also support prevention activities designed to address key categories of illness and injury as identified through data collection. The Office will serve as a clearinghouse for illness and injury prevention activity, and will work to coordinate EMS prevention efforts statewide. These programs shall include elements related to citizen involvement in the administration of prehospital care, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, and information concerning the availability of training programs in Delaware. In addition, the Office shall monitor public information and education programs offered by other EMS providers in Delaware. All EMS provider agencies shall provide a report on their prevention and education activities conducted during the previous year to the Office by January 15 of each year. The Office shall publish an annual report outlining the status of prevention and public education activities throughout the State by May 15 of each year.

(m) Review and evaluation. -- In conjunction with the health planning agencies and the EMS providers in Delaware, the Office shall conduct and/or coordinate an on-going comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the EMS system, in terms of the impact on the health status of the EMS patients in Delaware.

(n) Disaster planning. -- The Office shall: (1) Upon request, participate in disaster planning with all organizations that provide emergency medical services to assist with coordination of disaster activities which impact the EMS system, and (2) review all municipal, county and state disaster plans which utilize the emergency medical services system. All organizations involved in planning disaster exercises which impact the EMS system should advise the Office of scheduled disaster exercises. In addition, the Office shall, upon request, participate in disaster exercises for the purpose of evaluation and improvement of the emergency medical services system and make recommendations as needed to the appropriate provider for the refinement of their disaster plans. All disaster planning activities of the Office shall be coordinated with the Delaware Emergency Management Agency as authorized by Chapter 31 of Title 20, and the Department of Health and Social Services Disaster Coordinator.

(o) Mutual aid agreements. -- The Director of the Office in conjunction with the Division Director shall be authorized to develop and implement mutual aid agreements as may be necessary to ensure continuity of care. These agreements shall be coordinated through and approved by the appropriate EMS providers. These agreements may relate to reciprocity of services, and treatment, transfer and triage protocols to coordinate the provision of services, both within Delaware and across state lines as necessary.

(p) Semi-automatic external defibrillators. --

(1) The Department of Health and Social Services shall promulgate regulations specific to the use of semi-automatic external defibrillators and shall seek input and review from the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, the Delaware EMS Oversight Council and the Delaware State Fire Prevention Commission.

(2) The Office shall coordinate a statewide effort to promote and implement widespread use of semi-automatic external defibrillators and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation to increase the number of publicly available SAEDs to 100 by January 1, 2002, and 200 by January 1, 2004. In addition, the Office shall coordinate a statewide effort to provide, train and maintain a minimum of 5 qualified individuals for each publicly available SAED.

(3) All law enforcement vehicles on patrol shall be equipped with a semi-automatic external defibrillator by January 1, 2001, subject to appropriations.

63 Del. Laws, c. 383, § 1; 67 Del. Laws, c. 152, § 5; 69 Del. Laws, c. 78, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186 § 1; 72 Del. Laws, c. 137, §§ 22, 24, 25; 75 Del. Laws, c. 141, § 3; 77 Del. Laws, c. 319, § 1.;