Bill Text: NY A03896 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Enacts the good samaritan ambulance act of 2017 to allow the provision of ambulance services outside of an agency's primary territory in emergencies.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to health [A03896 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A03896-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3896
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 30, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. QUART -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF,
          GOODELL, LALOR, McDONOUGH, O'DONNELL, RAIA -- read once  and  referred
          to the Committee on Health
        AN  ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the good
          samaritan ambulance act of 2017
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  This  act  shall  be  known and may be cited as "the good
     2  samaritan ambulance act of 2017".
     3    § 2. Section 3001 of the public health law is amended by adding a  new
     4  subdivision 22 to read as follows:
     5    22. "Operate" means with respect to an ambulance receiving patients.
     6    §  3.  Subdivision  1  of  section  3010  of the public health law, as
     7  amended by chapter 588 of the laws  of  1993,  is  amended  to  read  as
     8  follows:
     9    1.  Every  ambulance  service certificate or statement of registration
    10  issued under this article shall specify  the  primary  territory  within
    11  which  the ambulance service shall be permitted to operate. An ambulance
    12  service shall receive patients only within the primary territory  speci-
    13  fied  on its ambulance service certificate or statement of registration,
    14  except: (a) when receiving a patient which it initially transported to a
    15  facility or location outside its primary territory; (b) as required  for
    16  the  fulfillment  of  a  mutual aid agreement authorized by the regional
    17  council; (c) upon express approval of the department and the appropriate
    18  regional emergency medical services council for a maximum of sixty  days
    19  if  necessary  to  meet  an  emergency  need;  provided that in order to
    20  continue such operation beyond the sixty day maximum period necessary to
    21  meet an emergency need, the ambulance service must satisfy the  require-
    22  ments  of this article, regarding determination of public need and spec-
    23  ification of the primary territory on the ambulance service  certificate
    24  or  statement of registration; [or] (d) an ambulance service or advanced
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08897-01-7
        A. 3896                             2
     1  life support first response service organization  formed  to  serve  the
     2  need  for the provision of emergency medical services in accordance with
     3  the religious convictions of a religious  denomination  may  serve  such
     4  needs  in an area adjacent to such primary territory and, while respond-
     5  ing to a call for such service, the needs of  other  residents  of  such
     6  area at the emergency scene; (e) any agency receiving a report of a life
     7  threatening  medical emergency requiring emergency medical services that
     8  in good faith concludes, on the basis of information  available  at  the
     9  time,  that  the  agency having primary responsibility for the territory
    10  will be delayed, and such delay may unnecessarily escalate or exacerbate
    11  the emergency, shall not  be  subject  to  any  sanction  for  operating
    12  outside  its  primary  territory, provided, that, it: attempts to notify
    13  the agency having primary responsibility for that territory of the emer-
    14  gency and of its response; has the resources available to respond to the
    15  emergency; and is not cancelled either in route or on the  scene  by  an
    16  agency or dispatcher having primary responsibility for the territory; or
    17  (f)  if  an  agency having primary responsibility for a territory avails
    18  itself of the resources, equipment, or personnel of an agency responding
    19  to an emergency outside the responding agency's primary territory,  then
    20  the  agency  having  primary  responsibility  for  the territory will be
    21  deemed to have made a request for mutual aid pursuant to  a  mutual  aid
    22  agreement  and  the  agency  responding outside of its primary territory
    23  will not be the subject of any  administrative  sanction  for  operating
    24  outside  its  primary  territory; provided that (g) nothing contained in
    25  this subdivision shall impose a legal duty  on  any  agency  to  respond
    26  outside  of  its primary territory and any such response shall be solely
    27  at the discretion of the agency. Any ambulance service seeking to  oper-
    28  ate  in  more than one region shall make application to each appropriate
    29  regional council. Whenever an application is made simultaneously to more
    30  than one regional council, the applications submitted  to  the  regional
    31  councils  shall  be  identical,  or  copies of each application shall be
    32  submitted to all the regional councils involved.
    33    § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    34  have  become  a  law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the
    35  addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule  or  regulation  necessary
    36  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
    37  and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.