H 3066 Session 112 (1997-1998)
H 3066 General Bill, By Moody-Lawrence and J. Hines
Similar(H 3033)
A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 44, CHAPTER 61, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
RELATING TO HOSPITALS, BY ADDING ARTICLE 3 SO AS TO ENACT THE CHILDREN'S
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ACT, TO ESTABLISH THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
FOR CHILDREN PROGRAM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL, TO PROVIDE FOR ITS DUTIES, AND TO CREATE AN ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE
PROGRAM, AND TO DESIGNATE SECTIONS 44-61-10 THROUGH 44-61-150 OF THE 1976 CODE
AS ARTICLE 1, CHAPTER 61 OF TITLE 44.
12/18/96 House Prefiled
12/18/96 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs
01/14/97 House Introduced and read first time HJ-35
01/14/97 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-35
A BILL
TO AMEND TITLE 44, CHAPTER 61, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO HOSPITALS, BY
ADDING ARTICLE 3 SO AS TO ENACT THE CHILDREN'S
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ACT, TO ESTABLISH THE
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR CHILDREN
PROGRAM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, TO PROVIDE FOR ITS DUTIES,
AND TO CREATE AN ADVISORY COUNCIL TO THE
PROGRAM, AND TO DESIGNATE SECTIONS 44-61-10
THROUGH 44-61-150 OF THE 1976 CODE AS ARTICLE 1,
CHAPTER 61 OF TITLE 44.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 44, Chapter 61 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"Article 3
Emergency Medical Services for Children
Section 44-61-300. This article may be cited as the Children's
Emergency Medical Services Act.
Section 44-61-310. As used in this article:
(1) 'Advanced life support' means an advanced level of
pre-hospital, interhospital, and emergency service care which
includes basic life support functions, cardiac monitoring, cardiac
defibrillation, telemetered electrocardiography, administration of
antiarrhythmic agents, intravenous therapy, administration of specific
medications, drugs and solutions, use of adjunctive ventilation
devices, trauma care, and other techniques and procedures authorized
by the department pursuant to regulations.
(2) 'Advisory council' or 'EMS Advisory Council' means the
Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.
(3) 'Basic life support' means a basic level of pre-hospital care
which includes patient stabilization, airway clearance,
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, hemorrhage control, initial wound
care and fracture stabilization, and other techniques and procedures
authorized by the department pursuant to regulations.
(4) 'Committee' or 'EMSC Committee' means the Emergency
Medical Services for Children Committee established pursuant to this
article.
(5) 'Coordinator' means the person coordinating the EMSC
Program within the Department of Health and Environmental
Control.
(6) 'Department' means the Department of Health and
Environmental Control.
(7) 'Director' means the director of the Department of Health and
Environmental Control.
(8) 'EMSC Program' means the Emergency Medical Services for
Children Program established pursuant to this article and other
relevant programmatic activities conducted by the department in
support of appropriate treatment, transport, and triage of ill or injured
children.
(9) 'Emergency medical services personnel' means persons trained
and certified or licensed to provide emergency medical care, whether
on a paid or volunteer basis, as part of a basic life support or
advanced life support pre-hospital emergency care service or in an
emergency department or pediatric critical care or specialty unit in a
licensed hospital.
(10) 'Pre-hospital care' means the provision of emergency medical
care or transportation by trained and certified or licensed emergency
medical services personnel at the scene of an emergency and while
transporting sick or injured persons to a medical care facility or
provider.
Section 44-61-320. (A) There is established within the
Department of Health and Environmental Control, Division of
Emergency Medical Services, the Emergency Medical Services for
Children Program.
(B) The department shall hire a full-time coordinator for the EMSC
Program in consultation with the EMS advisory council. The
coordinator shall implement the EMSC Program following
consultation with the advisory council. The coordinator shall serve as
a liaison to the advisory council. The coordinator may employ
professional, technical, research, and clerical staff as necessary within
the limits of available appropriations.
Section 44-61-330. (A) The EMSC Program shall include, but
is not limited to, the establishment of:
(1) initial and continuing education programs for emergency
medical services personnel that include training in the emergency
care of infants and children;
(2) guidelines for referring children to the appropriate
emergency treatment facility;
(3) pediatric equipment guidelines for pre-hospital care;
(4) guidelines for hospital-based emergency departments
appropriate for pediatric care to assess, stabilize, and treat critically
ill infants and children, either to resolve the problem or to prepare the
child for transfer to a pediatric intensive care unit or a pediatric
trauma center;
(5) guidelines for pediatric intensive care units, pediatric trauma
centers, and intermediate care units fully equipped and staffed by
appropriately trained critical care pediatric physicians, surgeons,
nurses, and therapists;
(6) an interhospital transfer system for critically ill or injured
children;
(7) pediatric rehabilitation units staffed by rehabilitation
specialists and capable of providing any service required to assure
maximum recovery from the physical, emotional, and cognitive
effects of critical illness and severe trauma.
(8) in conjunction with the South Carolina Data Oversight
Council, the collection and analysis of statewide pediatric emergency
and critical care medical services data from emergency and critical
care medical services for the purpose of quality improvement by
these facilities and services, subject to the confidentiality
requirements of Section 44-61-350;
(9) injury prevention programs for parents;
(10) public education programs on accessing the emergency
medical services system and what to do until the emergency medical
services personnel arrive.
(B) In gathering statewide pediatric emergency and critical care
medical services data the department shall rely upon, to the extent
possible, data from existing sources; however, the department may
contact families and physicians for the purpose of gathering
additional data and providing information on available public and
private resources. Patient contact following data received from the
State Budget and Control Board Office of Research and Statistics
must be done in accordance with regulations approved by the South
Carolina Data Oversight Council and promulgated by the Office of
Research and Statistics.
Section 44-61-340. (A) There is created an Emergency Medical
Services for Children Committee to advise the Division of
Emergency Medical Services and the coordinator of the EMSC
Program on all matters concerning emergency medical services for
children. The committee shall assist in the formulation of policy and
regulations to effectuate the purposes of this article. The EMSC
Committee is a formal committee of the EMS Advisory Council.
(B) The committee shall consist of a minimum of twelve members
to be appointed by the director for a term of three years. Membership
of the committee shall include: one practicing pediatrician, one
pediatric critical care physician, one emergency physician, one
emergency medical technician, one paramedic, one family practice
physician, two registered emergency nurses, one hospital
administrator, and three members, each with a nonmedical
background, who are parents with children under the age of eighteen,
one of whom must be a parent of a child with a disability. The
director also may appoint additional members to the committee
including, but not limited to, one board-certified pediatric emergency
physician, one pediatric physiatrist, and one pediatric surgeon.
(C) Vacancies on the committee must be filled for the unexpired
term in the manner of the original appointment. The members of the
committee shall serve without compensation.
Section 44-61-350. (A) The identities of patients, emergency and
critical care medical services personnel, and emergency and critical
care medical services facilities mentioned, referenced, or otherwise
appearing in information or data collected or prepared by or in
connection with the EMSC Program must be treated as strictly
confidential. The identities of these persons or entities are not
available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act or
discoverable or admissible in any administrative, civil, or criminal
proceeding. An individual in attendance at any such proceeding may
not be required to testify as to the identity of any such person or
entity. No person, medical facility, or other organization providing
or releasing information in accordance with this article may be held
liable in a civil or criminal action for divulging confidential
information unless the individual or organization acted in bad faith
or with malicious purpose.
(B) The identity of a patient, physician, or hospital is confidential
and may not be released except that the identity of a patient may be
released upon informed written consent of the patient or the patient's
legal guardian or legal representative; the identity of a physician may
be released upon written consent of the physician; and the identity of
a hospital may be released upon written consent of the hospital.
(C) Information must not be released except to:
(1) appropriate staff of the Division of Emergency Medical
Services within the Department of Health and Environmental
Control, South Carolina Data Oversight Council, and State Budget
and Control Board, Office of Research and Statistics;
(2) submitting hospitals or their designees;
(3) a person engaged in a research project approved pursuant to
Section 44-61-350 except that no information identifying a subject of
a report or a reporter may be made available to a researcher unless
consent is obtained pursuant to this section.
(D) For purposes of maintaining the data base collected pursuant
to this article, the department and the Office of Research and
Statistics may both access and provide access to appropriate
confidential data reported in accordance with Section 44-6-170.
(E) A person subject to this article who intentionally fails to
comply with reporting, confidentiality, or disclosure requirements of
this article is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one hundred
dollars for a violation the first time a person fails to comply and not
more than five thousand dollars for a subsequent violation.
Section 44-61-360. The department shall promulgate regulations
necessary to carry out the purposes of this article."
SECTION 2. Sections 44-61-10 through 44-61-150 of the 1976
Code are designated as Article 1, Chapter 61, Title 44 entitled
"Emergency Medical Services".
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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