Amendment ASA1-AB724

AB724-ASA1,3,3 (2) Safety program; course. The department shall establish and administer an ambulance operator safety program to promote the safe operation of ambulances, including providing a safety course to operators of ambulances.

AB724-ASA1,3,6 (3) Operator certification. The department shall certify as an ambulance operator each person who successfully completes an ambulance operator safety course under sub. (2) or (5).

AB724-ASA1,3,9 (4) Notification. The department shall notify ambulance owners of the process for certification of ambulance operators and any safety standards for ambulance operation.

AB724-ASA1,3,16 (5) Course administrator certification; contracts. (a) The department may certify as a course administrator a driver school licensed under s. 343.61 or a technical college that offers a training course in emergency vehicle operation. The department may contract with a driver school or technical college that is certified under this subsection to administer an ambulance operator safety course and to conduct written examinations for certification or recertification. The department shall include all of the following provisions in a contract with a course administrator:

AB724-ASA1,3,19 1. All instruction given and examinations conducted by the course administrator shall comply with the rules and any standards established by the department.

AB724-ASA1,3,22 2. Within 5 days after an applicant completes the course or examination, the course administrator shall notify the department if the applicant has successfully completed the ambulance operator safety course or the written examination.

AB724-ASA1,4,2 (b) A driver school or technical college applying for certification as a course administrator shall pay an application fee to the department in an amount established by the department. The application fee under this paragraph may not exceed the actual cost of reviewing and processing the application for certification.

AB724-ASA1,4,5 (c) The department may conduct inspections of the course administrator to determine compliance with the contract and with department certification requirements for course administrators.

AB724-ASA1,4,14 (d) The department shall take prompt and appropriate remedial action against a course administrator if the course administrator fails to comply with department standards for course administrators or any provision of the contract under this subsection or unreasonably interferes with a department inspection under par. (c). Remedial action may include immediate termination of any ambulance operator safety courses administered by the course administrator and recovery of damages incurred by the department as a result of the course administrator's failure to comply with standards under this subsection or provisions of the contract under this subsection.

AB724-ASA1,4,17 (6) Rules. The department, in consultation with the advisory committee established under 2009 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 6 (1 ), shall promulgate rules that do all of the following:

AB724-ASA1,4,18 (a) Establish safety standards for ambulance operators.

AB724-ASA1,4,19 (b) Establish certification and recertification periods for ambulance operators.

AB724-ASA1,4,22 (c) Establish a curriculum for ambulance operator safety courses that includes classroom instruction and actual practice driving an ambulance accompanied by an instructor.

AB724-ASA1,4,25 (d) Allow technical colleges and driver schools to apply for certification and provide a safety course for the certification and recertification of ambulance operators.

AB724-ASA1,4,26 (e) Implement and administer this section.

AB724-ASA1, s. 4 Section 4. 346.03 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB724-ASA1,5,9 346.03 (1) The operator of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm, when transporting an organ for human transplantation, or when transporting medical personnel for the purpose of performing human organ harvesting or transplantation immediately after the transportation, may exercise the privileges set forth in this section, but subject to the conditions stated in subs. (2) to (5m) and (7).

AB724-ASA1, s. 5 Section 5. 346.03 (7) of the statutes is created to read:

AB724-ASA1,5,13 346.03 (7) The privileges granted under this section apply to the operator of an ambulance under s. 340.01 (3) (g) or (i) only if the operator holds a current certification under s. 256.20 (3).

AB724-ASA1, s. 6 Section 6 . Nonstatutory provisions.

AB724-ASA1,5,15 (1) Advisory committee creation.

AB724-ASA1,5,18 (a) The department of health services shall appoint an ambulance operator safety course committee that consists of at least one representative from each of the following groups, within 30 days after the effective date of this paragraph:

AB724-ASA1,5,21 1. Organizations that represent emergency response personnel, such as the Wisconsin EMS Association, Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin State Firefighters' Association.

AB724-ASA1,5,22 2. The public.

AB724-ASA1,5,23 3. Employees of the department of health services.

AB724-ASA1,5,25 4. Entities that provide an ambulance operator safety course on the effective date of this paragraph.

AB724-ASA1,6,8 (b) The committee under paragraph (a) shall review existing ambulance operator safety courses, shall develop safety standards for ambulance operators and an ambulance operator safety course curriculum by integrating policies and procedures from existing courses, and shall submit the safety standards and safety course curricula to the department of health services. The advisory committee under paragraph (a) shall make recommendations to the department for amendments to the rules, and the committee shall terminate on the first day of the 12th month after the department promulgates the rules.

AB724-ASA1,6,12 (2) Proposed rules. No later than the first day of the 7th month beginning after the effective date of this subsection, the department of health services shall submit in proposed form the rules required under section 256.20 of the statutes, as created by this act, to the legislative council staff under section 227.15 (1) of the statutes.

AB724-ASA1, s. 7 Section 7. Effective dates. This act takes effect on July 1, 2011, except as follows:

AB724-ASA1,6,16 (1) The treatment of section 346.03 (1) and (7) of the statutes takes effect on January 1, 2013.

AB724-ASA1,6,17 (End)