Sec. 3. Definitions

400 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/hr/809/ih/section-3

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

In this Act: The term ambulance diversion means the practice by hospitals of denying access to an incoming ambulance by requesting it to proceed to another facility due to a stated lack of capacity at the initial facility, resulting in delayed access to definitive care. The term EMS means emergency medical services. The term FICEMS means the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services. The term field EMS means emergency medical services provided to patients (including transport by ground, air, or otherwise) prior to or outside a medical facility or other clinical setting.

The term field EMS agency means an organization providing field EMS, regardless of— whether such organization is governmental, nongovernmental, or volunteer; and whether such organization provides field EMS by ground, air, or otherwise. The term emergency medical services or EMS means emergency medical care, trauma care, and related services provided to patients at any point in the continuum of health care services, including emergency medical dispatch and emergency medical care, trauma care, and related services provided in the field, during transport, or in a medical facility or other clinical setting.

The term field EMS patient care reports means the information that a field EMS agency typically creates regarding a patient’s medical condition and treatment in the course of providing emergency medical services to that patient. The term medical oversight means the supervision by a physician of the medical aspects of an EMS system or agency and its providers including prospective, concurrent, and respective components of field EMS and the education of EMS providers. The term NEMSAC means the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council.

The term NEMSIS means the National EMS Information System. The term NHTSA means the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The term patient parking means the practice by hospitals of refusing to accept transfer of a patient’s care from an ambulance crew until a regular emergency department bed is available, requiring the crew to continue to provide patient care on the ambulance stretcher other than a patient bed in the hospital until hospital staff will accept the transfer of care, resulting in delayed access to definitive care.

The term State EMS Office means an office designated by the State with primary responsibility for oversight of the State’s EMS system, such as responsibility for oversight of EMS coordination, licensing or certifying EMS practitioners, and EMS system improvement. The term STEMI means ST–Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.