South Carolina General Assembly
112th Session, 1997-1998

Bill 3066


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                       3066
Type of Legislation:               General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                  House
Introduced Date:                   19970114
Primary Sponsor:                   Moody-Lawrence 
All Sponsors:                      Moody-Lawrence and J.
                                   Hines
Drafted Document Number:           bbm\9003ac.97
Residing Body:                     House
Current Committee:                 Medical, Military, Public and
                                   Municipal Affairs Committee 27
                                   H3M
Subject:                           Emergency Medical Services for
                                   Children, Advisory Council,
                                   hospitals, minors, health



History


Body    Date      Action Description                       Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  _______________________________________  _______ ____________
House   19970114  Introduced, read first time,             27 H3M
                  referred to Committee
House   19961218  Prefiled, referred to Committee          27 H3M

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

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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