§ 1-2503. Definitions
Oklahoma Statutes AnnotatedTitle 63. Public Health and SafetyEffective: November 1, 2022
Effective: November 1, 2022
63 Okl.St.Ann. § 1-2503
§ 1-2503. Definitions
<Text as amended by Laws 2016, c. 236, § 1, Laws 2017, c. 30, § 1, Laws 2019, c. 93, § 1, and Laws 2022, c. 276, § 1. See also, text as amended by Laws 2016, c. 246, § 1.>
As used in the Oklahoma Emergency Response Systems Development Act:
1. “Ambulance” means any ground, air or water vehicle which is or should be approved by the State Commissioner of Health, designed and equipped to transport a patient or patients and to provide appropriate on-scene and en route patient stabilization and care as required. Vehicles used as ambulances shall meet such standards as may be required by the Commissioner for approval, and shall display evidence of such approval at all times;
8. “Certified emergency medical response agency” means an organization of any type certified by the Department to provide emergency medical care and limited transport in an emergency vehicle as defined in Section 1-103 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes . A certified emergency medical response agency shall only provide transport upon approval by the appropriate online medical control at the time of transport. Certified emergency medical response agencies may utilize certified emergency medical responders or licensed emergency medical personnel; provided, however, that all personnel so utilized shall function under the direction of and consistent with guidelines for medical control;
17. “Licensed emergency medical personnel” means an emergency medical technician (EMT), an intermediate, an advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT), or a paramedic licensed by the Department to perform emergency medical services in accordance with the Oklahoma Emergency Response Systems Development Act and the rules and standards promulgated by the Commissioner;
Requirements for each level of care shall be established by the Commissioner. Licensure at any level of care includes a license to operate at any lower level, with the exception of licensure for specialty care; provided, however, that the highest level of care offered by an ambulance service shall be available twenty-four (24) hours each day, three hundred sixty-five (365) days per year.
Licensure shall be granted or renewed for such periods and under such terms and conditions as may be promulgated by the Commissioner;
19. “Medical control” means local, regional or statewide medical direction and quality assurance of health care delivery in an emergency medical service system. Online medical control is the medical direction given to licensed emergency medical personnel, certified emergency medical responders and stretcher van personnel by a physician via radio or telephone. Off-line medical control is the establishment and monitoring of all medical components of an emergency medical service system, which is to include stretcher van service including, but not limited to, protocols, standing orders, educational programs, and the quality and delivery of online control;
20. “Medical director” means a physician, fully licensed without restriction, who acts as a paid or volunteer medical advisor to a licensed ambulance service and who monitors and directs the care so provided. Such physicians shall meet such qualifications and requirements as may be promulgated by the Commissioner;
21. “Region” or “emergency medical service region” means two or more municipalities, counties, ambulance districts or other political subdivisions exercising joint control over one or more providers of emergency medical services and stretcher van service through common ordinances, authorities, boards or other means;
22. “Regional emergency medical services system” means a network of organizations, individuals, facilities and equipment which serves a region, subject to a unified set of regional rules and standards which may exceed, but may not be in contravention of, those required by the state, which is under the medical direction of a single regional medical director, and which participates directly in the delivery of the following services:
23. “Regional medical director” means a licensed physician, who meets or exceeds the qualifications of a medical director as defined by the Oklahoma Emergency Response Systems Development Act, chosen by an emergency medical service region to provide external medical oversight, quality control and related services to that region;
25. “Stretcher van” means any ground vehicle which is or should be approved by the State Commissioner of Health, which is designed and equipped to transport individuals on a stretcher or gurney type apparatus. Vehicles used as stretcher vans shall meet such standards as may be required by the Commissioner for approval and shall display evidence of licensure at all times. The Commissioner shall not establish Federal Specification KKK-A-1822 ambulance standards for stretcher vans; provided, a stretcher van shall meet Ambulance Manufacturers Division (AMD) Standards 004, 012 and 013, and shall pass corresponding safety tests. Stretcher van services shall only be permitted and approved by the Commissioner in emergency medical service regions, ambulance service districts, or counties with populations in excess of five hundred thousand (500,000) people. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, stretcher van transports may be made to and from any federal or state veterans facility. Stretcher vans may carry and provide oxygen and may carry and utilize any equipment necessary for the provision of oxygen;
26. “Stretcher van passenger” means any person who is or will be transported in a reclining position on a stretcher or gurney, who is medically stable, nonemergent and does not require any medical monitoring equipment or assistance during transport except oxygen. Passengers must be authorized as qualified to be transported by stretcher van. Passengers shall be authorized through screening provided by a certified medical dispatching protocol approved by the Department. All patients being transported to or from any medically licensed facility shall be screened before transport. Any patient transported without screening shall be a violation of Commissioner rule by the transporting company and subject to administrative procedures of the Department; and
27. “Transport protocol” means the written instructions governing decision-making at the scene of a medical emergency by ambulance personnel regarding the selection of the hospital to which the patient shall be transported. Transport protocols shall be developed by the regional medical director for a regional emergency medical services system or by the Department if no regional emergency medical services system has been established. Such transport protocols shall adhere to, at a minimum, the following guidelines:
d. emergency ambulance transportation is not required when a patient's apparent clinical condition, as defined by applicable medical treatment protocols, does not warrant emergency ambulance transport, and nontransport of patients is authorized pursuant to applicable medical treatment protocols established by the regional medical director.
Credits
Laws 1990, c. 320, § 7, emerg. eff. May 30, 1990; Laws 1999, c. 156, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2001, c. 411, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 2001; Laws 2005, c. 433, § 1, eff. July 1, 2005; Laws 2006, c. 171, § 1, emerg. eff. May 17, 2006; Laws 2007, c. 1, § 49, emerg. eff. Feb. 22, 2007; Laws 2013, c. 23, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2013; Laws 2013, c. 229, § 65, eff. Nov. 1, 2013; Laws 2016, c. 236, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2017, c. 30, § 1, eff. July 1, 2017; Laws 2019, c. 93, § 1, emerg. eff. April 18, 2019; Laws 2022, c. 276, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2022.
63 Okl. St. Ann. § 1-2503, OK ST T. 63 § 1-2503
Current with emergency effective legislation through Chapter 3 of the Second Regular Session of the 59th Legislature (2024). Some sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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