Healthcare (Public Safety)

Existing law, the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act, requires every local public agency to establish within its jurisdiction a basic emergency telephone system that includes, at a minimum, police, firefighting, and emergency medical and ambulance services. Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor and requires the office to be responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services, as specified. Existing law requires the office, at specified intervals, to consult with, among others, the State Fire Marshal and the State Department of Public Health in order to review and update technical and operational standards for public agency systems. Existing law requires a public safety agency that provides "911" call processing services for emergency medical response to, by January 1, 2027, provide prearrival medical instructions to "911" callers requiring medical assistance, as specified. This bill would require a public safety agency described above that was not providing prearrival instructions to the "911" callers described above on or before January 1, 2027, to report to their local emergency medical services agency the status of their compliance with the above-described requirement on or before January 31, 2027.

Existing law establishes the Maddy Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fund and authorizes each county to establish an emergency medical services fund for reimbursement of costs related to emergency medical services. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, requires 15% of the fund to be used to, among other things, improve access to, and coordination of, pediatric trauma and emergency services, with specified preferences, and requires the cost of administering money deposited into the EMS Fund to be reimbursed from the money collected, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, authorizes county boards of supervisors to elect to levy an additional penalty, for deposit into the EMS Fund, in the amount of $2 for every $10 upon fines, penalties, and forfeitures collected for criminal offenses. Existing law, until January 1, 2027, requires 15% of the funds collected pursuant to that provision to be used to provide funding for pediatric trauma centers. This bill would extend the operative date of these provisions until January 1, 2037.

Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act (act) , establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority, which is responsible for the coordination of various state activities concerning emergency medical services (EMS) . The act authorizes a county to develop an EMS program by designating a local EMS agency. Existing law also requires the Commission on Emergency Medical Services to review and approve regulations, standards, and guidelines to be developed by the authority. Existing law generally makes a violation of the act a misdemeanor. This bill would require, by January 1, 2027, a public safety agency that provides "911" call processing services for emergency medical response to provide prearrival medical instructions to "911" callers requiring medical assistance, including, among other things, airway and choking medical instructions for infants, children, and adults and administration of naloxone for narcotics overdoses. The bill would require prearrival medical instructions to be approved by the local EMS agency medical director and implemented consistent with the medical protocols and procedures adopted by the public safety agency. By expanding the scope of a crime, and to the extent that the bill would create new duties for a public safety agency, the 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, governs local emergency medical services (EMS) systems, authorizes each county to develop an EMS program and designate a local EMS agency, and requires the Emergency Medical Services Authority to receive plans for the implementation of EMS systems from local EMS agencies, as specified. Existing law requires a county to enter into a written agreement with a city or fire district that contracted for or provided prehospital EMS as of June 1, 1980. Existing law requires, until that written agreement is reached, prehospital EMS to be continued at not less than the existing level and the administration of prehospital EMS by cities and fire districts contracting for or providing those services as of June 1, 1980, to be retained by those cities and fire districts, as specified. This bill would authorize a county board of supervisors or the governing body of an entity or a joint powers agency designated as the local EMS agency by the board of supervisors to provide ambulance services to persons located within the county's jurisdiction by specified means, including assigning the duty of providing ambulance services to residents of the county to an existing county department and providing the department with the necessary staffing, vehicles, and equipment to provide ambulance services. The bill would require a county board of supervisors or a local EMS agency to adopt a written policy, including specified requirements, for an emergency ambulance services provider in order to enter into a contract with a provider for emergency ambulance services and would include required provisions for those contracts. The bill would make related findings and declarations.