| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to emergency medical services training; |
| 3 | amending s. 401.2701, F.S.; revising provisions relating |
| 4 | to fulfillment of the required field internship experience |
| 5 | in paramedic programs; providing for rule adoption by the |
| 6 | Department of Health with respect to fulfillment of the |
| 7 | field internship experience; amending s. 401.281, F.S.; |
| 8 | revising a documented requirement for a driver of an |
| 9 | emergency vehicle; providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section |
| 14 | 401.2701, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 15 | 401.2701 Emergency medical services training programs.-- |
| 16 | (1) Any private or public institution in Florida desiring |
| 17 | to conduct an approved program for the education of emergency |
| 18 | medical technicians and paramedics shall: |
| 19 | (b) Receive a scheduled site visit from the department to |
| 20 | the applicant's institution. Such site visit shall be conducted |
| 21 | within 30 days after notification to the institution that the |
| 22 | application was accepted. During the site visit, the department |
| 23 | must determine the applicant's compliance with the following |
| 24 | criteria: |
| 25 | 1. Emergency medical technician programs must be a minimum |
| 26 | of 110 hours, with at least 20 hours of supervised clinical |
| 27 | supervision, including 10 hours in a hospital emergency |
| 28 | department. |
| 29 | 2. Paramedic programs must be available only to Florida- |
| 30 | certified emergency medical technicians or an emergency medical |
| 31 | technician applicant who will obtain Florida certification prior |
| 32 | to completion of phase one of the paramedic program. Paramedic |
| 33 | programs must be a minimum of 700 hours of didactic and skills |
| 34 | practice components, with the skills laboratory student-to- |
| 35 | instructor ratio not exceeding six to one. Paramedic programs |
| 36 | must provide a field internship experience aboard an advanced |
| 37 | life support permitted ambulance. However, a portion of the |
| 38 | field internship experience may be satisfied aboard an advanced |
| 39 | life support permitted vehicle other than an ambulance as |
| 40 | determined by rule of the department. |
| 41 | Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section |
| 42 | 401.281, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 43 | 401.281 Drivers.-- |
| 44 | (1) Each licensee is responsible for assuring that its |
| 45 | vehicles are driven only by trained, experienced, and otherwise |
| 46 | qualified personnel. The licensee must, at a minimum, document |
| 47 | that each of its drivers: |
| 48 | (d) Upon initial designation as a driver, has not, within |
| 49 | the past 3 years, been convicted of reckless driving or driving |
| 50 | under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances and has |
| 51 | not had a driver's license suspended under the point system |
| 52 | provided for in chapter 322; |
| 53 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |