The legislative instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Christine Arbo Peck.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP ORT DIGEST
SB 264 2018 Regular Session Carter
Keyword and summary of the bill as proposed by the Conference Committee
TELECOMMUNICATIONS. Requires public safety telecommunicators who provide dispatch for
emergency medical conditions be trained in the delivery of telephone CPR. (8/1/18)
Report adopts House amendments to:
1. Stipulate that the required training in telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-
CPR) meet or exceed nationally recognized guidelines.
2. Designate proposed law as the Spencer Washington Act.
Report rejects House amendments which would have:
1. Removed the phase-in requirement for T-CPR training in parishes with populations
of less than 50 thousand and those 50-100 thousand and provides that the training
requirement does not apply in parishes with populations equal to or less than
100,000.
Report amends the bill to:
1. Stipulate that the required training in telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-
CPR) meet or exceed nationally recognized guidelines.
2. Designate proposed law as the Spencer Washington Act.
Digest of the bill as proposed by the Conference Committee
Present law provides for training of emergency medical personnel. Proposed law retains present law
and adds thereto the following defined terms and corresponding definitions:
(1)"Public safety agency" means a functional division of a public or private agency which
provides firefighting, police, medical, or other emergency services.
(2)"Public safety telecommunicator" means an individual answering 911 emergency medical
condition calls on behalf of a public safety agency who has authority, based on a protocol adopted by the agency, to provide telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions to
a caller before arrival of professional medical assistance by first responders.
Present law grants civil immunity to emergency medical services practitioners, parish governing
authorities, police departments, sheriffs' offices, fire departments, or other public agencies engaged
in rendering emergency medical services. Proposed law retains present law.
Proposed law provides that no public safety telecommunicator who instructs a caller on telephone
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, referred to hereafter as "T-CPR", shall be liable for any civil damages
arising out of the instruction provided to the caller, except for acts or omissions intentionally
designed to harm, or for grossly negligent acts or omissions that result in harm to an individual.
Proposed law provides that a caller may decline T-CPR instruction and that once declined, the public
safety communicator has no obligation to provide the instruction.
Proposed law provides that a public safety agency is not required to have public safety
telecommunicators answer 911 calls.
Proposed law requires public safety telecommunicators to be trained in T-CPR utilizing training that
meets or exceeds nationally recognized emergency cardiovascular care guidelines. Provides that the
training, at minimum, shall incorporate recognition protocols for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,
compression-only CPR instructions for callers, and continuing education as appropriate.
Proposed law requires public safety agencies to ensure that 911 calls being answered by public safety
telecommunicators have T-CPR training based on the following phase-in timeline and population
references based on the latest federal decennial census:
(1)January 1, 2019 for parishes with a population of more than 100,000.
(2)January 1, 2020 for parishes with a population between 50,000 and 100,000.
(3)January 1, 2021 for parishes with a population less than 50,000.
Proposed law authorizes public safety agencies to enter into reciprocal agreements with other public
safety agencies to provide T-CPR, on the condition that the agency accepting the call has a public
safety telecommunicator who is trained in T-CPR as provided by proposed law.
Proposed law requires the bureau of emergency medical services of the La. Department of Health
(LDH) to identify all public and private agencies, institutions, and individuals that are or may be
engaged in T-CPR training and establish minimum standards for course approval, instruction, and
examination. Requires LDH to implement an efficient mechanism for the bureau to maintain the
names of public safety communicators and receive certificates of completion for the training course
required in proposed law.
Proposed law requires LDH to adopt administrative rules as necessary to implement the provisions
of proposed law. Proposed law provides that proposed law may be referred to as the Spencer Washington Act.
Effective August 1, 2018.
(Amends R.S. 40:1131(21) and 1131.1(D); Adds R.S. 40:1131(22) and (23), 1133.13(F) and (G),
and 1133.16)