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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 247
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1507
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING ME NTAL HEALTH TRAINING OF
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SE RVICES PERSONNEL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (a) to (d), inclusive, of section 20-206mm of the 1
2020 supplement to the general statutes are repealed and the following 2
is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 3
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, an 4
applicant for a license as a paramedic shall submit evidence satisfactory 5
to the Commissioner of Public Health that the applicant has successfully 6
(1) completed a paramedic training program approved by the 7
commissioner, (2) for applicants applying on and after January 1, 2020, 8
completed mental health first aid training as part of a program provided 9
by an instructor certified by the National Council for Behavioral Health 10
or an organization with substantially similar requirements for 11
certification in mental health first aid training, as determined by the 12
commissioner, and (3) passed an examination prescribed by the 13
commissioner. 14
(b) An applicant for licensure by endorsement shall present evidence 15 Raised Bill No. 247
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satisfactory to the commissioner that the applicant (1) is licensed or 16
certified as a paramedic in another state or jurisdiction whose 17
requirements for practicing in such capacity are substantially similar to 18
or higher than those of this state and that the applicant has no pending 19
disciplinary action or unresolved complaint against him or her, or (2) 20
(A) is currently licensed or certified as a paramedic in good standing in 21
any New England state, New York or New Jersey, (B) has completed an 22
initial training program consistent with the National Emergency 23
Medical Services Education Standards, as promulgated by the National 24
Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the paramedic scope of 25
practice model conducted by an organization offering a program that is 26
recognized by the national emergency medical services program 27
accrediting organization, (C) for applicants applying on or after January 28
1, 2020, has completed mental health first aid training as part of a 29
program provided by an instructor certified by the National Council for 30
Behavioral Health or an organization with substantially similar 31
requirements for certification in mental health first aid training, as 32
determined by the commissioner, and (D) has no pending disciplinary 33
action or unresolved complaint against him or her. 34
(c) Any person who is certified as an emergency medical technician-35
paramedic by the Department of Public Health on October 1, 1997, shall 36
be deemed a licensed paramedic. Any person so deemed shall renew his 37
license pursuant to section 19a-88 for a fee of one hundred fifty-five 38
dollars. 39
(d) On or after January 1, 2020, each person seeking certification as an 40
emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician or 41
advanced emergency medical technician shall apply to the department 42
on forms prescribed by the commissioner. Applicants for certification 43
shall comply with the following requirements: (1) For initial 44
certification, an applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to the 45
commissioner that the applicant (A) has completed an initial training 46
program consistent with the National Emergency Medical Services 47
Education Standards, as promulgated by the National Highway Traffic 48
Safety Administration for the emergency medical responder, emergency 49 Raised Bill No. 247
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medical technician or advanced emergency medical technician 50
curriculum, (B) has passed the examination administered by the 51
national organization for emergency medical certification for an 52
emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician or 53
advanced emergency medical technician as necessary for the type of 54
certification sought by the applicant or an examination approved by the 55
department, [and] (C) has completed mental health first aid training as 56
part of a program provided by an instructor certified by the National 57
Council for Behavioral Health or an organization with substantially 58
similar requirements for certification in mental health first aid training, 59
as determined by the commissioner, and (D) has no pending 60
disciplinary action or unresolved complaints against such applicant, (2) 61
a certificate issued under this subsection shall be renewed once every 62
two years in accordance with the provisions of section 19a-88 upon 63
presentation of evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that the 64
applicant (A) has successfully completed continuing education for an 65
emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician or 66
advanced emergency medical technician as required by the national 67
organization for emergency medical certification or as approved by the 68
department, or (B) presents a current certification as an emergency 69
medical responder, emergency medical technician or advanced 70
emergency medical technician from the national organization for 71
emergency medical certification, or (3) for certification by endorsement 72
from another state, an applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to 73
the commissioner that the applicant (A) (i) is currently certified as an 74
emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician or 75
advanced emergency medical technician in good standing by a state that 76
maintains certification or licensing requirements that the commissioner 77
determines are equal to or greater than those in this state, or [(B)] (ii) 78
holds a current certification as an emergency medical responder, 79
emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical 80
technician from the national organization for emergency medical 81
certification, and (B) has completed mental health first aid training as 82
part of a program provided by an instructor certified by the National 83
Council for Behavioral Health or an organization with substantially 84 Raised Bill No. 247
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similar requirements for certification in mental health first aid training, 85
as determined by the commissioner. 86
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 20-206mm(a) to (d)
Statement of Purpose:
To permit additional organizations to certify instructors that provide
mental health first aid training to emergency medical services personnel
and require mental health first aid training for recertification of
emergency medical services personnel.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]