AB 446

Under current law, the Department of Health Services (DHS) serves as the lead

state agency for emergency medical services and has various duties relating to the

provision of emergency medical services, including:

1) Certifying first responders, who are individuals that, as a condition of

employment or as members of an organization that provides emergency medical care

before hospitalization, provide emergency medical care to sick, disabled, or injured

individuals before the arrival of an ambulance. In order to become certified as a first

responder, an individual must satisfy certain criteria, including completing a first

responder course that meets certain specified criteria. Certified first responders may

undertake only certain actions specified under current law, including administering

medications that are specified by DHS by rule.

2) Licensing emergency medical technicians (EMTs), who are individuals that

may provide emergency medical services ranging from basic life support and patient

handling and transportation to emergency cardiac, trauma, and other lifesaving or

emergency procedures, depending on the level of EMT licensure. Current law

specifies three levels of EMT licensure, known as EMT - basic, EMT - intermediate,

and EMT - paramedic (advanced). In order to become licensed as an EMT, an

individual must satisfy certain criteria, including obtaining training commensurate

with the level of EMT licensure that is sought. EMTs may, under current law,

undertake only those actions that are authorized in rules promulgated by DHS for

their level of licensure.

This bill provides that certified first responders may administer the drug

naloxone if they have received training necessary to safely administer naloxone, as

determined by DHS. Naloxone is a prescription drug which, when administered to

a person undergoing an opioid-related drug overdose, can have the effect of

countering the effects of the overdose. The bill also requires that DHS permit EMTs

at all levels of licensure to administer naloxone to individuals who are undergoing

or who are believed to be undergoing an opioid-related drug overdose. DHS must,

under the bill, require EMTs to undergo any training necessary to safely and

properly administer naloxone. The bill also requires each EMT so trained to, at all

times when performing his or her duties as an emergency medical technician, carry

or have available for administration a supply of naloxone.

In addition, the bill allows a law enforcement agency or fire department to enter

into a written agreement to affiliate with an ambulance service provider or a

physician for the purposes of: 1) obtaining a supply of naloxone; and 2) allowing law

enforcement officers and fire fighters to obtain the training necessary to safely and

properly administer naloxone to individuals who are undergoing or who are believed

to be undergoing an opioid-related drug overdose. The bill provides that a law

enforcement officer or fire fighter who, acting in good faith, administers naloxone to

an individual whom the officer or fire fighter reasonably believes to be undergoing