Emergency services: local government: access and functional needs: medical equipment.

Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor and under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or human-made disasters and emergencies. Existing law defines the term "emergency plan" for purposes of emergency services provided by local governments. Existing law requires a county, upon the next update to its emergency plan, to integrate access and functional needs into its emergency plan by addressing, at a minimum, how the access and functional needs population is served by, among other things, emergency evacuation, including the identification of certain transportation resources and resources for individuals who are dependent on public transportation. This bill would require the emergency plan to include a plan for the movement, storage, acquisition, and deployment of durable medical equipment, as defined, to address how the access and functional needs population is served by emergency evacuation. The bill would also require a county, or city and county, upon the next update to its emergency plan, regarding the integration of access and functional needs into that emergency plan, to work with Mutual Aid and Administrative Regions, the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) , and the State Department of Public Health to coordinate the interregional agreements, as necessary, for acquisition or deployment of durable medical equipment. The bill would require EMSA to coordinate with city and county local emergency medical services agencies to provide prearranged assistance to those cities and counties for planning, organizing, implementing, and maintaining regional caches of durable medical equipment, subject to the availability of funds appropriated therefor. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.