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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 29. PUBLIC WELFARE |
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Chapter 29-5. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES |
Section 29-599. DEFINITIONS
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599.1 When used in this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:
ACEP - the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Act - the Emergency Medical Services Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. law 17-357; D.C. Official Code §§ 7-2341.01, et seq. (2012 Repl.)).
ACS - the American College of Surgeons.
Administrative Law Judge - a hearing examiner authorized to hear cases pursuant to the Office of Administrative Hearings Establishment Act of 2001, effective March 6, 2002 (D.C. Law 14-76; D.C. Official Code §§ 2-1831.02, et seq. (2007 Repl. and 2012 Supp.)).
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) - the educational and certification program operated that the American Heart Association operates.
Advanced Emergency Medical Services (AEMS) instructor - an individual who meets the necessary educational requirements to teach Advanced EMT, EMT-Intermediate, and Paramedic courses.
Advanced Life Support (ALS) - the level of care which may be rendered by an individual certified as an:
(a) Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT);
(b) Emergency Medical Technician – Intermediate (EMT-I); or
(c) Paramedic.
Advanced Life Support (ALS) education program - an individual, agency, corporation, association, or other entity that prepares individuals for District emergency medical services (EMS) certification at the ALS level.
Advertising - information communicated by oral, electronic, written, or graphic means including handbills, newspapers, business cards, letterhead, other business stationery, television, billboards, radio, and telephone directories, including ambulance markings, but not including novelty items such as key chains, pens, pencils, or mugs.
Affiliated - having employment or membership as an EMS provider with an Emergency Medical Services Agency or EMS Educational Institution.
AHA- the American Heart Association.
Air ambulance - any aircraft designed and constructed or modified and equipped to be used, maintained, or operated as an ambulance.
Air medical - an Emergency Medical Services Agency that responds to medical emergencies to offer care and provides transport to a hospital by an air ambulance.
Ambulance - any motor vehicle or aircraft designed and constructed or modified and equipped to be used, maintained, or operated for the transportation of individuals who are sick, injured, wounded, or incapacitated. The term “ambulance” does not include a motor vehicle or aircraft designed and constructed or modified and equipped with a hydraulic lift which is used, maintained, or operated exclusively for transporting, in wheelchairs, patients who do not require the use of equipment and trained personnel found in an ambulance.
Automated External Defibrillator (AED) - a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the potentially life threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient and is able to treat them through defibrillation.
Base station - a unit which has been approved by the Director to provide online medical direction to EMS providers.
Basic Life Support (BLS) - the level of care which may be rendered by an individual certified as an:
(a) Emergency Medical Responder (EMR); or
(b) Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
Basic life support (BLS) education program- an individual, agency, corporation, association, or other entity that prepares individuals for EMS certification at the BLS level.
Candidate - a person who has applied for initial certification or renewal of an existing certification as an EMS provider.
CDC - the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CECBEMS - the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services, a national accrediting body for EMS continuing education courses and course providers.
Certification course - a course of instruction designed to allow the participant to obtain certification as an EMS provider at the BLS or ALS level.
CoAEMSP - the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions which is a national committee that accredits programs instructing EMS curricula.
Continuing Education (CE) - education used for renewal of EMS licensure or certification.
Continuing Education Hour - One (1) CE hour is any one (1) of the following:
(a)Fifty (50) minutes of approved classroom or skills laboratory activity; or
(b)One (1) hour of approved media-based or periodical-based CE (such as films, videos, computer simulation, interactive computer modules, and magazine articles).
Continuing education instructor - an individual who meets necessary educational requirements to teach only continuing education courses.
Curriculum - the required educational content of an EMS course that the DOH approves for certification as an EMS provider.
Day - a calendar day.
Department - the District of Columbia Department of Health.
Director - the Director of the District of Columbia Department of Health or his or her designee.
Distance education - a method of acquiring knowledge and skills through mediated information and instruction, encompassing all technologies and forms of learning at a distance.
District EMS Officer – a physician in the District of Columbia Department of Health who is appointed by the Director to oversee the District’s Emergency Medical Services.
DOH - the District of Columbia Department of Health.
Education Licensure Commission (ELC) - the Commission that licenses, approves, or oversees all private postsecondary educational institutions in the District of Columbia.
EMD - an emergency medical dispatch program.
Emergency - a sudden or serious symptom in a patient which might indicate a condition which:
(a) Is threatening to the patient's physical or psychological well-being; and
(b) Requires immediate medical attention to prevent possible deterioration, disability, or death of the patient.
Emergency Medical Response Vehicle - a vehicle or conveyance used to respond to the scene of a medical emergency for the purpose of rendering medical assistance, including the provision of medical assistance on the scene or the transportation of patients to a health care facility or other treatment facility. The term "emergency medical response vehicle" includes:
(a) Ambulances which operate as motor vehicles, watercraft, or aircraft; and
(b) Fire engines, motor vehicles, Segways, or other ground, water, or air vehicles used to transport emergency medical services personnel, supplies, or equipment to the scene of an emergency.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) - medical services provided pre-hospital to prevent imminent death or aggravation of illness or injury; transport from the scene of a medical emergency to a hospital or other appropriate facility whether or not medical services are provided; medical inter-facility transport services to an appropriate facility; or medical inter-facility critical care transport to an appropriate facility.
Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMSA) - a certified agency providing medical care at the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT), EMT-I, or Paramedic level as a transport agency or non-transporting first responder agency.
EMR instructor - an individual who has met the necessary educational requirements to teach Emergency Medical Responder courses.
EMS provider - an individual certified by DOH to provide emergency medical services.
EMT instructor - an individual who has met the necessary educational requirements to teach Emergency Medical Technician courses.
FAA - the Federal Aviation Administration.
First Responder Emergency Medical Services Agency - an Emergency Medical Services Agency that responds to medical emergencies to offer care but does not provide transport to a hospital.
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) - a standardized system for assessing the degree of conscious impairment in the critically ill and for predicting the duration and ultimate outcome of coma.
Ground Transport EMR Agency - an Emergency Medical Services Agency that responds to medical emergencies to offer care and provides transport to a hospital by ambulance.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - the federal law that provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information.
HEPRA - the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Administration, an administration within the DOH.
JCAHO - the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
Licensed physician - an individual holding a current and valid license to practice medicine in the District of Columbia.
Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) - an incident in which emergency medical services personnel and equipment at a scene are unable to timely and adequately provide emergency medical services, because of the large number and severity of casualties.
Medical aid station - a temporary-use facility, such as a tent or a room within an existing building structure, designated to provide basic or advanced life support emergency medical care prior to arrival, treatment, or transport by an EMSA or its personnel during special events or emergencies.
Medical control - supervision by an EMS agency’s physician who is responsible for the care of the patient by the agency’s medical providers.
Medical control orders - medical instructions that may be direct by two (2)-way voice communications (on-line) or indirect by protocol (off-line).
Medical director - an agency’s licensed physician who has overall responsibility for the EMS agency and who works with either the operational or educational section of the agency to provide medical oversight of EMS activities.
Medication – a substance taken by mouth; injected into the muscle, blood vessel, or cavity of the body; or applied topically to treat or prevent a disease or condition.
NAEMSP - the National Association of Emergency Medical Service Physicians.
National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) – a national repository designed to store EMS data from every state in the nation.
National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) - the not-for-profit independent non-governmental agency that provides standardized national testing and registration for emergency medical technicians based on national training standards.
NHTSA - the United States National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.
NIMS - the National Incident Management System.
Non-transport emergency medical response vehicle - a vehicle certified to respond to a medical emergency that is not designated to transport a patient to a hospital or other health care facility.
On-line medical control physician - the physician who directly communicates with the agency’s EMS providers regarding appropriate patient care procedures while on the scene of a medical emergency or en route to the hospital.
Operational CE programs - a continuing education program that is sponsored by an Emergency Medical Services Agency.
Operational director - a District-certified or licensed provider, who is certified or licensed at a level equal to that of the Emergency Medical Services Agency by which he or she is employed, who is responsible for the operations, treatment, and transport of patients in the pre-hospital setting.
OSSE - the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
Person – an individual, firm, corporation, association, or governmental agency either as owner, agency, or otherwise.
Preceptor hours - the time spent on an emergency medical response vehicle to observe and assist with the training of EMS providers.
Quality Assurance (QA) - an organized method of auditing and evaluating care provided within an EMS system.
Quality Improvement (QI) - a systematic review of pre-hospital care designed to improve the overall delivery of care within the EMS system.
Quality improvement officer – a District-certified or licensed provider, who is certified or licensed at a level equal to that of the EMR agency by which he or she is employed, who is responsible for the quality improvement activities within the agency.
Refresher course - a continuing education course which provides continuing education requirements required for renewal of an EMS license or certificate.
Representative – A person to whom authority for a particular act has been delegated by the Director.
Respondent - a person against whom an adverse action is contemplated, proposed, or taken.
Revocation - action taken by the Department that permanently voids a certification such that the holder may no longer perform the function associated with the certification.
Sponsoring EMS agency – a District certified Emergency Medical Services Agency or educational institution.
Special Event – includes, but is not limited to, a circus, rodeo, carnival, fair, concert, parade, flea market, marathon, walkathon, race, bicycle event, festival, celebration, performance, singing, playing of musical or other instruments, dancing or amusement of any kind, preaching, exhorting, or lecturing conducted or operating in a building, tent or temporary structure of any kind, on vacant land, or in a yard or area appurtenant to any building, on public or private space.
Star-of-Life ambulance - an ambulance which is constructed in compliance with Federal Specification KKK-A-1822.
Suspension - action taken by the Department that temporarily voids a certification such that the holder may no longer perform the function associated with the certification until the holder has complied with the statutory requirements and other conditions imposed by DOH.
Time call is dispatched - the date and time the responding unit was notified by dispatch.
Time call received - the date and time the phone rings (911 call to public safety answering point or other designated entity) requesting EMS services.
Time patient was transported to the hospital - the date and time the responding unit left the scene (started moving) en route to the hospital.
Time patient arrived at the hospital - the date and time the responding unit arrived with the patient at the hospital destination or transfer point.
Time personnel arrive on the scene - the date and time the responding unit arrived on the scene; that is, the time the vehicle stopped moving.
Time personnel respond - the date and time the unit responded; that is, the time the vehicle started moving.
Time personnel returned to service - the date and time the unit was back in service and available for response (finished with call, but not necessarily back in home location).
Time transport service was requested - the date and time the non-transport EMS agency initiated contact with another EMS agency for transport.
Triage tag - a tool for EMS providers to use during a mass casualty incident to identify those patients that need immediate care (red tag), are potentially unstable (yellow tag), are stable patients and can reasonably wait for emergency medical service (green tag), and are deceased (black tag).
Type of call - the type of complaint dispatch reported to the responding unit.