This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h0593z.PPH.DOCX
DATE: 3/9/2022
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF FINAL BILL ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 593 Telecommunicator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
SPONSOR(S): Trabulsy and others
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 890
FINAL HOUSE FLOOR ACTION: 105 Y’s
0 N’s GOVERNOR’S ACTION: Pending
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
HB 593 passed the House on February 25, 2022, and subsequently passed the Senate on March 8, 2022.
A heart attack occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly becomes
blocked. If blood flow is not restored quickly, the section of heart muscle begins to die. Heart attack treatment
is most effective if provided when symptoms first occur. Emergency assistance to a person having a heart
attack is usually provided by emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, or a bystander who
attempts to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for certifying 911 public safety telecommunicators (911 PSTs).
To become certified as a 911 PST, an applicant must complete 232 hours of training, which must include a
CPR certification class. A 911 PST must renew the certification every two years and complete 20 hours of
continuing education prior to renewal. Current law does not require the 20 hours of continuing education to
include CPR training. Current law also does not require 911 PSTs to complete biennial telecommunicator CPR
training.
The bill requires a 911 PST to complete biennial telecommunicator CPR training in order to have their
certification renewed.
The bill also authorizes certain public safety agencies to enter into a reciprocal agreement with another public
safety agency to provide telephonic assistance in administering CPR, including a fire department, law
enforcement department, or other emergency medical service that receives or dispatches calls for emergency
medical conditions.
The bill has no fiscal impact on state or local government.
Subject to the Governor’s veto powers, the effective date of this bill is July 1, 2022.
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DATE: 3/9/2022
I. SUBSTANTIVE INFORMATION
A. EFFECT OF CHANGES:
Background
911 Public Safety Telecommunicators
The Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for certifying 911 public safety telecommunicators
1
(PSTs).
2
Certification as a 911 PST is required for any person employed as a 911 PST at a public
safety answering point—the public safety agency that receives incoming 911 requests for assistance
and dispatches appropriate public safety agencies to respond to the requests.
3
A public safety agency
4
may employ a 911 PST for up to 12 months if the trainee works under the direct supervision of a
certified 911 public safety telecommunicator and is enrolled in a 911 PST training program.
5
DOH is responsible for approving 911 PST training programs, which must be equivalent to the public
safety telecommunication program curriculum framework developed by the Department of Education
(DOE) and consist of at least 232 hours.
6
A 911 PST must renew the certification every two years and
must receive 20 hours of continuing education prior to renewal, which does not currently include CPR
training.
7
Heart Attacks and 911 Telecommunicators
A heart attack occurs when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle suddenly
becomes blocked.
8
If blood flow is not restored quickly, the section of heart muscle begins to die. Heart
attacks most often occur as a result of ischemic heart disease – also known as coronary heart disease
or coronary artery disease, which is caused by plaque build-up inside the coronary arteries. Eventually,
an area of plaque can rupture inside of an artery causing a blood clot to form on the plaque’s surface. If
the blood clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or completely block blood flow through a coronary
artery. If the blockage isn’t treated quickly, the portion of heart muscle fed by the artery begins to die.
Heart attack treatment is most effective if provided when symptoms first occur.
9
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest describes the sudden, unexpected loss of heart function, breathing, and
consciousness.
10
Every year an estimated 350,000 people have cardiac arrest in the United States in
an out-of-hospital environment and only one out of 10 victims survive.
11
911 PSTs, along with the 911-caller, are often the first responders and it is the 911 PST’s job to
transform the caller into a lay rescuer by instructing them how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation
1
A 911 PST is a public safety dispatcher or 911 operator whose duties and responsibilities include the answering, receiving,
transferring, and dispatching functions related to 911 calls; dispatching law enforcement officers, fire rescue services, emergency
medical services, and other public safety services to the scene of an emergency; providing real-time information from federal, state, and
local crime databases; or supervising or serving as the command officer to a person or persons having such duties and responsibilities.
2
Section 401.465(2), F.S.
3
Section 401.465(2)(a), F.S.
4
Public safety agency means a functional division of a public agency which provides firefighting, law enforcement, medical, or other
emergency services.
5
Section 401.465(2)(b), F.S.
6
Section 401.465(1)(c), F.S.
7
Rule 64J-3.003, F.A.C.
8
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Heart Attack, available at
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/heart-attack (last visited March 15, 2022).
9
Id.
10
Michael Christopher, Telecommunicator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – A Policy Statement from the American Heart Association,
AHA Journals, Mar. 24, 2020, available at https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000744 (last visited March 15,
2022).
11
Id.
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DATE: 3/9/2022
(CPR).
12
This is known as telephone CPR.
13
Studies have shown the efficacy of telephone CPR in
increasing the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest.
14
Currently, the PST certification curriculum framework developed by DOE requires students to
successfully complete a CPR certification class.
15
However, the 20 hours of continuing education for
biennial renewal does not currently include CPR training. Current law also does not require 911 PSTs
to complete biennial telecommunicator CPR training.
Effect of the Bill
HB 593 requires a 911 PST to complete biennial telecommunicator CPR training in order to have their
certification renewed.
The bill also authorizes certain public safety agencies to enter into a reciprocal agreement with another
public safety agency to provide telephonic assistance in administering CPR, including a fire
department, law enforcement department, or other emergency medical service that receives or
dispatches calls for emergency medical conditions.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2022.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STA TEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
12
Rea TD, Eisenberg MS, Culley LL, Becker L. Dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation and survival in cardiac arrest.
Circulation. 2001 Nov 20;104(21):2513-6. doi: 10.1161/hc4601.099468. PMID: 11714643.
13
Id.
14
Id., see also Eisenberg MS, Hallstrom AP, Carter WB, Cummins RO, Bergner L, Pierce J. Emergency CPR instruction via telephone.
Am J Public Health. 1985 Jan;75(1):47-50. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.1.47. PMID: 3966598; PMCID: PMC1646147.
15
Florida Department of Education Curriculum Framework, p. 13 (Jun. 8, 2010), incorporated by reference in rule 64J-3.002, F.A.C.,
available at https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-01490 (last visited March 15, 2022).
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DATE: 3/9/2022
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
None.
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.