Sponsored by:
Senator NILSA I. CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Revises requirements for provision of care to trauma patients.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the provision of care for trauma patients and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Each emergency medical services provider in the State shall, as a condition of licensure, certify that its standards, practices, and protocols are in accordance with the "Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients, Recommendations of the National Expert Panel on Field Triage, 2011; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR, January 13, 2012, Vol. 61, No. 1," or such successor guidance as may be promulgated by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Compliance with the requirements of this section shall be verified during the annual provider audit.
b. As used in this section, "emergency medical services provider" means any association, organization, company, department, agency, service, program, unit, or other entity that provides pre-hospital emergency care to patients in New Jersey, including, but not limited to, a basic life support ambulance service, a mobile intensive care program or mobile intensive care unit, an air medical service, or a volunteer or non-volunteer first aid, rescue and ambulance squad.
2. Each general acute care hospital licensed in the State pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.) shall maintain trauma patient transfer criteria and transfer agreements, which criteria and agreements shall provide for the effective and efficient transfer of patients requiring the services of a trauma center. The Department of Health shall collect and post on its Internet website each hospital's transfer criteria and transfer agreements.
3. The Commissioner of Health shall, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
4. This act shall take effect the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill revises the requirements for the provision of care to trauma patients.
Specifically, the bill requires each emergency medical services provider in the State, as a condition of licensure, to certify that its standards, practices, and protocols are in accordance with the "Guidelines for Field Triage of Injured Patients, Recommendations of the National Expert Panel on Field Triage, 2011; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR, January 13, 2012, Vol. 61, No. 1," or successor guidance. Compliance with this requirement will be verified during the annual provider audit.
The bill defines "emergency medical services provider" to mean any association, organization, company, department, agency, service, program, unit, or other entity that provides pre-hospital emergency care to patients in New Jersey, including, but not limited to, a basic life support ambulance service, a mobile intensive care program or mobile intensive care unit, an air medical service, or a volunteer or non-volunteer first aid, rescue and ambulance squad.
Additionally, the bill requires each general acute care hospital in the State to maintain trauma patient transfer criteria and transfer agreements, which criteria and agreements are to provide for the effective and efficient transfer of patients requiring the services of a trauma center. The Department of Health will be required to collect and post on its Internet website each hospital's transfer criteria and transfer agreements.