Public Act 103-0689
 
HB5085 EnrolledLRB103 38312 CES 68447 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems
Act is amended by changing Sections 3.5, 3.35, and 3.65 as
follows:
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.5)
    Sec. 3.5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Clinical observation" means the ongoing observation of a
patient's medical or mental health condition by a licensed
health care professional utilizing a medical skill set while
continuing assessment and care.
    "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public
Health.
    "Director" means the Director of the Illinois Department
of Public Health.
    "Emergency" means a medical condition of recent onset and
severity that would lead a prudent layperson, possessing an
average knowledge of medicine and health, to believe that
urgent or unscheduled medical care is required.
    "Emergency Medical Services personnel" or "EMS personnel"
means persons licensed as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)
(First Responder), Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD),
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Emergency Medical
Technician-Intermediate (EMT-I), Advanced Emergency Medical
Technician (A-EMT), Paramedic (EMT-P), Emergency
Communications Registered Nurse (ECRN), Pre-Hospital
Registered Nurse (PHRN), Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice
Registered Nurse (PHAPRN), or Pre-Hospital Physician Assistant
(PHPA).
    "Exclusive representative" has the same meaning as defined
in Section 3 of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.
    "Health care facility" means a hospital, nursing home,
physician's office or other fixed location at which medical
and health care services are performed. It does not include
"pre-hospital emergency care settings" which utilize EMS
personnel to render pre-hospital emergency care prior to the
arrival of a transport vehicle, as defined in this Act.
    "Hospital" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the
Hospital Licensing Act.
    "Labor organization" has the same meaning as defined in
Section 3 of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.
    "Medical monitoring" means the performance of medical
tests and physical exams to evaluate an individual's ongoing
exposure to a factor that could negatively impact that
person's health. "Medical monitoring" includes close
surveillance or supervision of patients liable to suffer
deterioration in physical or mental health and checks of
various parameters such as pulse rate, temperature,
respiration rate, the condition of the pupils, the level of
consciousness and awareness, the degree of appreciation of
pain, and blood gas concentrations such as oxygen and carbon
dioxide.
    "Silver spanner program" means a program in which a member
under a fire department's or fire protection district's
collective bargaining agreement works on or at the EMS System
under another fire department's or fire protection district's
collective bargaining agreement and (i) the other fire
department or fire protection district is not the member's
full-time employer and (ii) any EMS services not included
under the original fire department's or fire protection
district's collective bargaining agreement are included in the
other fire department's or fire protection district's
collective bargaining agreement.
    "Trauma" means any significant injury which involves
single or multiple organ systems.
(Source: P.A. 103-521, eff. 1-1-24.)
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.35)
    Sec. 3.35. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Resource
Hospital; Functions. The Resource Hospital of an EMS System
shall:
        (a) Prepare a Program Plan in accordance with the
    provisions of this Act and minimum standards and criteria
    established in rules adopted by the Department pursuant to
    this Act, and submit such Program Plan to the Department
    for approval.
        (b) Appoint an EMS Medical Director, who will
    continually monitor and supervise the System and who will
    have the responsibility and authority for total management
    of the System as delegated by the EMS Resource Hospital.
        The Program Plan shall require the EMS Medical
    Director to appoint an alternate EMS Medical Director and
    establish a written protocol addressing the functions to
    be carried out in his or her absence.
        (c) Appoint an EMS System Coordinator and EMS
    Administrative Director in consultation with the EMS
    Medical Director and in accordance with rules adopted by
    the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (d) Identify potential EMS System participants and
    obtain commitments from them for the provision of
    services.
        (e) Educate or coordinate the education of EMS
    personnel and all other license holders in accordance with
    the requirements of this Act, rules adopted by the
    Department pursuant to this Act, and the EMS System
    Program Plan. An EMS System may coordinate education
    outside of the region of which it is located with valid
    justification and Department approval. The didactic
    portion of education may be conducted through an online
    platform with EMS System and Department approval. An
    education plan within a Resource Hospital may include
    classes performed outside of the region in which the
    Resource Hospital is located. When considering whether to
    approve or deny an education plan for classes performed
    outside of the region in which a Resource Hospital is
    located, the Department shall give deference to the EMS
    Medical Director's education plan request and shall not
    unreasonably withhold approval.
        (f) Notify the Department of EMS personnel who have
    successfully completed the requirements as provided by law
    for initial licensure, license renewal, and license
    reinstatement by the Department.
        (g) Educate or coordinate the education of Emergency
    Medical Dispatcher candidates, in accordance with the
    requirements of this Act, rules adopted by the Department
    pursuant to this Act, and the EMS System Program Plan.
        (h) Establish or approve protocols for prearrival
    medical instructions to callers by System Emergency
    Medical Dispatchers who provide such instructions.
        (i) Educate or coordinate the education of
    Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse, Pre-Hospital Advanced
    Practice Registered Nurse, Pre-Hospital Physician
    Assistant, and ECRN candidates, in accordance with the
    requirements of this Act, rules adopted by the Department
    pursuant to this Act, and the EMS System Program Plan.
        (j) Approve Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse,
    Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice Registered Nurse,
    Pre-Hospital Physician Assistant, and ECRN candidates to
    practice within the System, and reapprove Pre-Hospital
    Registered Nurses, Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice
    Registered Nurses, Pre-Hospital Physician Assistants, and
    ECRNs every 4 years in accordance with the requirements of
    the Department and the System Program Plan.
        (k) Establish protocols for the use of Pre-Hospital
    Registered Nurses, Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice
    Registered Nurses, and Pre-Hospital Physician Assistants
    within the System.
        (l) Establish protocols for utilizing ECRNs and
    physicians licensed to practice medicine in all of its
    branches to monitor telecommunications from, and give
    voice orders to, EMS personnel, under the authority of the
    EMS Medical Director.
        (m) Monitor emergency and non-emergency medical
    transports within the System, in accordance with rules
    adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (n) Utilize levels of personnel required by the
    Department to provide emergency care to the sick and
    injured at the scene of an emergency, during transport to
    a hospital or during inter-hospital transport and within
    the hospital emergency department until the responsibility
    for the care of the patient is assumed by the medical
    personnel of a hospital emergency department or other
    facility within the hospital to which the patient is first
    delivered by System personnel.
        (o) Utilize levels of personnel required by the
    Department to provide non-emergency medical services
    during transport to a health care facility and within the
    health care facility until the responsibility for the care
    of the patient is assumed by the medical personnel of the
    health care facility to which the patient is delivered by
    System personnel.
        (p) Establish and implement a program for System
    participant information and education, in accordance with
    rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (q) Establish and implement a program for public
    information and education, in accordance with rules
    adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act.
        (r) Operate in compliance with the EMS Region Plan.
(Source: P.A. 100-1082, eff. 8-24-19.)
 
    (210 ILCS 50/3.65)
    Sec. 3.65. EMS Lead Instructor.
    (a) "EMS Lead Instructor" means a person who has
successfully completed a course of education as approved by
the Department, and who is currently approved by the
Department to coordinate or teach education, training and
continuing education courses, in accordance with standards
prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the Department
pursuant to this Act.
    (b) The Department shall have the authority and
responsibility to:
        (1) Prescribe education requirements for EMS Lead
    Instructor candidates through rules adopted pursuant to
    this Act.
        (2) Prescribe testing requirements for EMS Lead
    Instructor candidates through rules adopted pursuant to
    this Act.
        (3) Charge each candidate for EMS Lead Instructor a
    fee to be submitted with an application for an
    examination, an application for licensure, and an
    application for relicensure.
        (4) Approve individuals as EMS Lead Instructors who
    have met the Department's education and testing
    requirements.
        (5) Require that all education, training and
    continuing education courses for EMT, EMT-I, A-EMT,
    Paramedic, PHRN, PHPA, PHAPRN, ECRN, EMR, and Emergency
    Medical Dispatcher be coordinated by at least one approved
    EMS Lead Instructor. A program which includes education,
    training or continuing education for more than one type of
    personnel may use one EMS Lead Instructor to coordinate
    the program, and a single EMS Lead Instructor may
    simultaneously coordinate more than one program or course.
    An EMS Lead Instructor may oversee a paramedic with at
    least 3 years of experience to teach EMT classes, with a
    licensed teacher, in high schools. High school students
    electing to not take the National Registry of Emergency
    Medical Technicians (NREMT) Certification exam shall not
    be accounted for in calculating the course pass rate by
    the EMS System or Department.
        (6) Provide standards and procedures for awarding EMS
    Lead Instructor approval to persons previously approved by
    the Department to coordinate such courses, based on
    qualifications prescribed by the Department through rules
    adopted pursuant to this Act.
        (7) Suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the
    approval of an EMS Lead Instructor, after an opportunity
    for a hearing, when findings show one or more of the
    following:
            (A) The EMS Lead Instructor has failed to conduct
        a course in accordance with the curriculum prescribed
        by this Act and rules adopted by the Department
        pursuant to this Act; or
            (B) The EMS Lead Instructor has failed to comply
        with protocols prescribed by the Department through
        rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(Source: P.A. 100-1082, eff. 8-24-19.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2025