HLS 15RS-3900 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 162
BY REPRESENTATIVE WILLMOTT
HEALTH/EMERG MED SERVICE: Authorizes the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to issue
administrative rules concerning transportation of patients with cardiac and stroke
emergencies
1 A RESOLUTION
2To authorize and direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to require through
3 administrative rulemaking that licensed ambulance services establish protocols
4 related to the assessment and transport of patients with cardiac and stroke
5 emergencies.
6 WHEREAS, "STEMI", an abbreviation for "ST segment elevation myocardial
7infarction", is a type of heart attack characterized by full thickness cardiac muscle damage
8resulting from an acute interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, and is the deadliest
9form of heart attack; and
10 WHEREAS, this type of heart attack continues to rank among the leading causes of
11death in Louisiana along with stroke, which itself is also a leading cause of long-term
12disability in this state; and
13 WHEREAS, rapid identification, diagnosis, and treatment of stroke and STEMI can
14save lives, and in some cases can reverse neurological damage that causes paralysis and
15speech impairment; and
16 WHEREAS, although new treatments are available that can improve the clinical
17outcomes of stroke and STEMI, acute care hospitals often face challenges in deploying the
18staff and equipment required to optimally triage and treat stroke and STEMI patients; and
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HR NO. 162
1 WHEREAS, research shows that patients treated in facilities recognized as stroke and
2STEMI centers have higher survival rates than patients treated at hospitals which may be in
3closer proximity to the patient, but that are not stroke or STEMI centers; and
4 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Emergency Response Network has led a collaborative
5effort to recognize facilities that are most appropriate for stroke and STEMI care; and
6 WHEREAS, establishment of pre-hospital destination protocols by licensed
7ambulance services can help to ensure that stroke and STEMI patients are transported to the
8most appropriate facilities whenever possible.
9 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
10Legislature of Louisiana does hereby authorize and direct the Department of Health and
11Hospitals, referred to hereafter as "the department", to promulgate such administrative rules
12as are necessary to require ambulance services licensed pursuant to the provisions of R.S.
1340:1231 et seq., to establish pre-hospital destination protocols related to the assessment and
14transport of stroke and STEMI patients.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the rules of the department shall require, without
16limitation, establishment of all of the following:
17 (1) Plans for the transport of acute stroke patients to the closest comprehensive
18stroke center, primary stroke center, or acute stroke ready hospital, as defined in LAC
1948:I.18701 et seq., within a specified time frame of onset of symptoms.
20 (2) Plans for the transport of STEMI heart attack patients to the closest STEMI
21receiving center or, when appropriate, to a STEMI referring center, as defined in LAC
2248:I.18901 et seq., within a specified time frame of onset of symptoms.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the rules of the department shall provide that:
24 (1) An ambulance service may either establish its own pre-hospital protocols which
25conform to the minimum requirements set forth by the department in rule, or adopt the
26pre-hospital protocols developed and promulgated by the Louisiana Emergency Response
27Network.
28 (2) If a life-threatening condition arises during the transport of a stroke or STEMI
29heart attack patient, the ambulance service shall transport the patient to the nearest
30appropriate hospital.
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HR NO. 162
1 (3) Each licensed ambulance service shall submit to the department annually a copy
2of its stroke and STEMI transportation protocol.
3 (4) Any ambulance service that revises its stroke and STEMI transportation protocol
4shall submit the revised protocol to the department no more than thirty days after
5implementation of the protocol.
6 (5) Nothing in the rules of the department shall be construed to limit the right of a
7patient to refuse emergency transport to a recommended destination.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall keep on file each
9transportation protocol it receives pursuant to rules adopted in accordance with this
10Resolution, and shall make such protocols available to any person upon request.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall promulgate the
12administrative rules required by this Resolution prior to October 1, 2015.
13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
14secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 162 Original 2015 Regular Session Willmott
Authorizes and directs the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to promulgate such administrative
rules as are necessary to require licensed ambulance services to establish pre-hospital
destination protocols related to the assessment and transport of patients with cardiac and
stroke emergencies.
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