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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1773 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2473 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Kathleen R. LaNatra |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to emergency medical services oversight. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kathleen R. LaNatra12th Plymouth1/15/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth2/5/2025Steven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable2/7/2025 1 of 4 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1773 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2473 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative LaNatra of Kingston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2473) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Kathleen R. LaNatra, Patrick Joseph Kearney and Steven George Xiarhos relative to emergency |
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| 20 | 20 | | medical services oversight. Public Health. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to emergency medical services oversight. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of section 3 of chapter 111C, as appearing |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “years”, in line 32, |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3the following words:- , provided that, such plan shall include guidelines for clear and streamlined |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4communication between the regional councils and the department. |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5 SECTION 2. Paragraph (6) of subsection (c) of said section 4 of said chapter 111C, as so |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “input from”, in line 50, the following |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7words:- , and communication to, . |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 SECTION 3. Said section 4 of said chapter 111C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9inserting after subsection (c) the following section:- |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 (d) Each regional EMS council shall prepare and annually file with the department and |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11the board, on or before May 30, a regional EMS services and support plan outlining the regional |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12EMS council’s planned efforts to meet and advance the regional EMS council’s roles and 2 of 4 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13responsibilities, as outlined in section 4(c) of this chapter. Each regional EMS plan shall be |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14consistent with the state EMS plan, although it may reflect regional differences. Each regional |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15EMS system plan shall also include, without limitation, a trauma plan consisting of, at a |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16minimum, trauma point of entry guidelines and scene triage criteria. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17 Upon submission, the department may amend each regional EMS council contract, |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18subject to appropriation and to the guidelines provided by section 5 of this chapter, to reflect and |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19respond to the submitted regional EMS plans. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20 SECTION 4. Subsection (d) of section 5 of said chapter 111C, as so appearing, is hereby |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21amended by inserting after the word “regions”, in line 18, the following words:- , as well as the |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22regional council’s annual submitted regional EMS plan. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23 SECTION 5. Said chapter 111C is hereby amended by striking out section 14, as so |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:- |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25 The department shall establish and implement procedures for the making, transmission |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26and investigation of complaints concerning any person certified, licensed, designated or |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27otherwise approved by the department under this chapter. The department shall prepare, and |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28make available on the office of emergency services website, a description of such procedures, |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29including any forms or other materials required to make such a complaint. The department shall, |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30as the public interest may require, investigate every complaint received, except to the extent that |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31the act or practice complained of does not constitute a violation of this chapter or any regulation, |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32guideline or order under this chapter. The department shall refer complaints to other agencies |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33and organizations, as appropriate. Upon investigation the department shall notify the 3 of 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34complainant, if known, of its action in the matter. If it finds that an investigation is not required, |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35it shall notify the complainant, if known, of its finding and with its reason. |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36 SECTION 6. Section 3 of said chapter 111C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37inserting after subsection (c) the following section:- |
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| 66 | 66 | | 38 (d) The department, in consultation with the regional councils, shall study and make |
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| 67 | 67 | | 39recommendations for potential permanent funding sources and mechanisms to support the office |
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| 68 | 68 | | 40of emergency medical services, the regional councils, and central medical emergency direction |
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| 69 | 69 | | 41centers. The department shall issue a report, with findings and recommendations, to the clerks of |
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| 70 | 70 | | 42the house of representatives and senate, as well as the house and senate committees on ways and |
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| 71 | 71 | | 43means, by December 1, 2025. |
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| 72 | 72 | | 44 SECTION 7. Chapter 111C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 73 | 73 | | 45section 25 the following section:- |
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| 74 | 74 | | 46 Section 26. (a) There shall be an emergency medical services peer licensure advisory |
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| 75 | 75 | | 47committee, which shall consist of the commissioner or a designee, the director of the office of |
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| 76 | 76 | | 48emergency medical services or a designee, and 6 members appointed by the commissioner, or |
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| 77 | 77 | | 49their designees, as follows: 1 each from the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, the |
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| 78 | 78 | | 50Massachusetts Call/Volunteer Firefighters Association, the Professional Fire Chiefs Association |
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| 79 | 79 | | 51of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Ambulance Association, the Massachusetts Association of |
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| 80 | 80 | | 52Hospital-Based Paramedic Services, and the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics. |
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| 81 | 81 | | 53 (b) The advisory committee shall meet, at a minimum, twice annually to advise the |
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| 82 | 82 | | 54department on the complaint resolution process and disciplinary actions relative to persons |
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| 83 | 83 | | 55certified, licensed, designated or otherwise approved by the department under chapter 111C. 4 of 4 |
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| 84 | 84 | | 56Each appointed member of this advisory council shall serve a term of 3 years, or until a |
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| 85 | 85 | | 57successor is appointed and qualified. No appointed member shall serve more than 3 terms. |
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| 86 | 86 | | 58Appointees shall serve without compensation. |
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