MO. Paramedics Can Become Public Safety Officers In New Senate Bill
Springfield MO July 29 2018 Paramedics and EMS personnel can become public safety officers, according to a recent Senate bill.
St. Clair Ambulance Chief Nick Tiepelman said Senate Bill 870 requires standard crisis intervention training, developed by the state EMS medical director’s advisory committee, in order for paramedics and personnel to be considered a public safety officer.
He added that the training can be beneficial when encountering a mentally-ill patient.
“It’s great to see that the state gives us another tool to take care of the patients because not everything is black and white when dealing with multiple types of situations,” Tiepelman said.
A portion of the bill reads, “An EMT-P may make a good faith determination that behavioral health patients who present a likelihood of serious harm to themselves or others, as the term ‘likelihood of serious harm’ is defined under Section 632.005, or who are significantly incapacitated by alcohol or drugs shall be placed into a temporary hold for the sole purpose of transport to the nearest appropriate facility.
“Such determination shall be made in cooperation with at least one other EMT-P or other health 8 care professional involved in the transport.”
Once the training guidelines become available, Tiepelman and the administrative staff will look into it and bring it to the district’s board of directors for approval.
“They’ve never shown anything but support for giving us the tools we need to take care of the residents,” Tiepelman said.
The bill also goes into detail about emergency services including the law enforcement mutual aid region, emergency services districts;
Retirement plan board member training, certain definitions, line of duty death compensation, emergency medical services medical directors;
EMS training, emergency treatment protocols; disciplinary investigations, EMS records, the EMS Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact;
Physical restraints used on pregnant or postpartum offenders, fire department and fire protection district protected health information, blood draws by certain medical professionals; and peer counseling for emergency services personnel.
emissourian.com
