(210 ILCS 50/3.20)
Sec. 3.20.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems.
(a) "Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System" means an organization of hospitals, vehicle service providers and personnel approved by the Department in a specific geographic area, which coordinates and provides pre‑hospital and inter‑hospital emergency care and non‑emergency medical transports at a BLS, ILS and/or ALS level pursuant to a System program plan submitted to and approved by the Department, and pursuant to the EMS Region Plan adopted for the EMS Region in which the System is located.
(b) One hospital in each System program plan must be designated as the Resource Hospital. All other hospitals which are located within the geographic boundaries of a System and which have standby, basic or comprehensive level emergency departments must function in that EMS System as either an Associate Hospital or Participating Hospital and follow all System policies specified in the System Program Plan, including but not limited to the replacement of drugs and equipment used by providers who have delivered patients to their emergency departments. All hospitals and vehicle service providers participating in an EMS System must specify their level of participation in the System Program Plan.
(c) The Department shall have the authority and responsibility to:
(1) Approve BLS, ILS and ALS level EMS Systems which
| meet minimum standards and criteria established in rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act, including the submission of a Program Plan for Department approval. Beginning September 1, 1997, the Department shall approve the development of a new EMS System only when a local or regional need for establishing such System has been identified. This shall not be construed as a needs assessment for health planning or other purposes outside of this Act. Following Department approval, EMS Systems must be fully operational within one year from the date of approval. | |
(2) Monitor EMS Systems, based on minimum standards |
| for continuing operation as prescribed in rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act, which shall include requirements for submitting Program Plan amendments to the Department for approval. | |
(3) Renew EMS System approvals every 4 years, after |
| an inspection, based on compliance with the standards for continuing operation prescribed in rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act. | |
(4) Suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew approval of |
| any EMS System, after providing an opportunity for a hearing, when findings show that it does not meet the minimum standards for continuing operation as prescribed by the Department, or is found to be in violation of its previously approved Program Plan. | |
(5) Require each EMS System to adopt written |
| protocols for the bypassing of or diversion to any hospital, trauma center or regional trauma center, which provide that a person shall not be transported to a facility other than the nearest hospital, regional trauma center or trauma center unless the medical benefits to the patient reasonably expected from the provision of appropriate medical treatment at a more distant facility outweigh the increased risks to the patient from transport to the more distant facility, or the transport is in accordance with the System's protocols for patient choice or refusal. | |
(6) Require that the EMS Medical Director of an ILS |
| or ALS level EMS System be a physician licensed to practice medicine in all of its branches in Illinois, and certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine or the American Board of Osteopathic Emergency Medicine, and that the EMS Medical Director of a BLS level EMS System be a physician licensed to practice medicine in all of its branches in Illinois, with regular and frequent involvement in pre‑hospital emergency medical services. In addition, all EMS Medical Directors shall: | |
(A) Have experience on an EMS vehicle at the |
| highest level available within the System, or make provision to gain such experience within 12 months prior to the date responsibility for the System is assumed or within 90 days after assuming the position; | |
(B) Be thoroughly knowledgeable of all skills |
| included in the scope of practices of all levels of EMS personnel within the System; | |
(C) Have or make provision to gain experience |
| instructing students at a level similar to that of the levels of EMS personnel within the System; and | |
(D) For ILS and ALS EMS Medical Directors, |
| successfully complete a Department‑approved EMS Medical Director's Course. | |
(7) Prescribe statewide EMS data elements to be |
| collected and documented by providers in all EMS Systems for all emergency and non‑emergency medical services, with a one‑year phase‑in for commencing collection of such data elements. | |
(8) Define, through rules adopted pursuant to this |
| Act, the terms "Resource Hospital", "Associate Hospital", "Participating Hospital", "Basic Emergency Department", "Standby Emergency Department", "Comprehensive Emergency Department", "EMS Medical Director", "EMS Administrative Director", and "EMS System Coordinator". | |
(A) Upon the effective date of this amendatory |
| Act of 1995, all existing Project Medical Directors shall be considered EMS Medical Directors, and all persons serving in such capacities on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995 shall be exempt from the requirements of paragraph (7) of this subsection; | |
(B) Upon the effective date of this amendatory |
| Act of 1995, all existing EMS System Project Directors shall be considered EMS Administrative Directors. | |
(9) Investigate the circumstances that caused a |
| hospital in an EMS system to go on bypass status to determine whether that hospital's decision to go on bypass status was reasonable. The Department may impose sanctions, as set forth in Section 3.140 of the Act, upon a Department determination that the hospital unreasonably went on bypass status in violation of the Act. | |
(10) Evaluate the capacity and performance of any |
| freestanding emergency center established under Section 32.5 of this Act in meeting emergency medical service needs of the public, including compliance with applicable emergency medical standards and assurance of the availability of and immediate access to the highest quality of medical care possible. | |
(Source: P.A. 95‑584, eff. 8‑31‑07.) |
(210 ILCS 50/3.25)
Sec. 3.25.
EMS Region Plan; Development.
(a) Within 6 months after designation of an EMS Region, an EMS Region Plan addressing at least the information prescribed in Section 3.30 shall be submitted to the Department for approval. The Plan shall be developed by the Region's EMS Medical Directors Committee with advice from the Regional EMS Advisory Committee; portions of the plan concerning trauma shall be developed jointly with the Region's Trauma Center Medical Directors or Trauma Center Medical Directors Committee, whichever is applicable, with advice from the Regional Trauma Advisory Committee, if such Advisory Committee has been established in the Region. Portions of the Plan concerning stroke shall be developed jointly with the Regional Stroke Advisory Subcommittee.
(1) A Region's EMS Medical Directors Committee shall
| be comprised of the Region's EMS Medical Directors, along with the medical advisor to a fire department vehicle service provider. For regions which include a municipal fire department serving a population of over 2,000,000 people, that fire department's medical advisor shall serve on the Committee. For other regions, the fire department vehicle service providers shall select which medical advisor to serve on the Committee on an annual basis. | |
(2) A Region's Trauma Center Medical Directors |
| Committee shall be comprised of the Region's Trauma Center Medical Directors. | |
(b) A Region's Trauma Center Medical Directors may choose to participate in the development of the EMS Region Plan through membership on the Regional EMS Advisory Committee, rather than through a separate Trauma Center Medical Directors Committee. If that option is selected, the Region's Trauma Center Medical Director shall also determine whether a separate Regional Trauma Advisory Committee is necessary for the Region.
(c) In the event of disputes over content of the Plan between the Region's EMS Medical Directors Committee and the Region's Trauma Center Medical Directors or Trauma Center Medical Directors Committee, whichever is applicable, the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health shall intervene through a mechanism established by the Department through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(d) "Regional EMS Advisory Committee" means a committee formed within an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Region to advise the Region's EMS Medical Directors Committee and to select the Region's representative to the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council, consisting of at least the members of the Region's EMS Medical Directors Committee, the Chair of the Regional Trauma Committee, the EMS System Coordinators from each Resource Hospital within the Region, one administrative representative from an Associate Hospital within the Region, one administrative representative from a Participating Hospital within the Region, one administrative representative from the vehicle service provider which responds to the highest number of calls for emergency service within the Region, one administrative representative of a vehicle service provider from each System within the Region, one Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)/Pre‑Hospital RN from each level of EMT/Pre‑Hospital RN practicing within the Region, and one registered professional nurse currently practicing in an emergency department within the Region. Of the 2 administrative representatives of vehicle service providers, at least one shall be an administrative representative of a private vehicle service provider. The Department's Regional EMS Coordinator for each Region shall serve as a non‑voting member of that Region's EMS Advisory Committee.
Every 2 years, the members of the Region's EMS Medical Directors Committee shall rotate serving as Committee Chair, and select the Associate Hospital, Participating Hospital and vehicle service providers which shall send representatives to the Advisory Committee, and the EMTs/Pre‑Hospital RN and nurse who shall serve on the Advisory Committee.
(e) "Regional Trauma Advisory Committee" means a committee formed within an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Region, to advise the Region's Trauma Center Medical Directors Committee, consisting of at least the Trauma Center Medical Directors and Trauma Coordinators from each Trauma Center within the Region, one EMS Medical Director from a resource hospital within the Region, one EMS System Coordinator from another resource hospital within the Region, one representative each from a public and private vehicle service provider which transports trauma patients within the Region, an administrative representative from each trauma center within the Region, one EMT representing the highest level of EMT practicing within the Region, one emergency physician and one Trauma Nurse Specialist (TNS) currently practicing in a trauma center. The Department's Regional EMS Coordinator for each Region shall serve as a non‑voting member of that Region's Trauma Advisory Committee.
Every 2 years, the members of the Trauma Center Medical Directors Committee shall rotate serving as Committee Chair, and select the vehicle service providers, EMT, emergency physician, EMS System Coordinator and TNS who shall serve on the Advisory Committee.
(Source: P.A. 96‑514, eff. 1‑1‑10.) |
(210 ILCS 50/3.30)
Sec. 3.30.
EMS Region Plan; Content.
(a) The EMS Medical Directors Committee shall address at least the following:
(1) Protocols for inter‑System/inter‑Region patient
| transports, including identifying the conditions of emergency patients which may not be transported to the different levels of emergency department, based on their Department classifications and relevant Regional considerations (e.g. transport times and distances); | |
(2) Regional standing medical orders;
(3) Patient transfer patterns, including criteria |
| for determining whether a patient needs the specialized services of a trauma center, along with protocols for the bypassing of or diversion to any hospital, trauma center or regional trauma center which are consistent with individual System bypass or diversion protocols and protocols for patient choice or refusal; | |
(4) Protocols for resolving Regional or Inter‑System |
|
(5) An EMS disaster preparedness plan which includes |
| the actions and responsibilities of all EMS participants within the Region. Within 90 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996, an EMS System shall submit to the Department for review an internal disaster plan. At a minimum, the plan shall include contingency plans for the transfer of patients to other facilities if an evacuation of the hospital becomes necessary due to a catastrophe, including but not limited to, a power failure; | |
(6) Regional standardization of continuing education |
|
(7) Regional standardization of Do Not Resuscitate |
| (DNR) policies, and protocols for power of attorney for health care; | |
(8) Protocols for disbursement of Department grants; |
|
(9) Protocols for the triage, treatment, and |
| transport of possible acute stroke patients. | |
(b) The Trauma Center Medical Directors or Trauma Center Medical Directors Committee shall address at least the following:
(1) The identification of Regional Trauma Centers;
(2) Protocols for inter‑System and inter‑Region |
| trauma patient transports, including identifying the conditions of emergency patients which may not be transported to the different levels of emergency department, based on their Department classifications and relevant Regional considerations (e.g. transport times and distances); | |
(3) Regional trauma standing medical orders;
(4) Trauma patient transfer patterns, including |
| criteria for determining whether a patient needs the specialized services of a trauma center, along with protocols for the bypassing of or diversion to any hospital, trauma center or regional trauma center which are consistent with individual System bypass or diversion protocols and protocols for patient choice or refusal; | |
(5) The identification of which types of patients |
| can be cared for by Level I and Level II Trauma Centers; | |
(6) Criteria for inter‑hospital transfer of trauma |
|
(7) The treatment of trauma patients in each trauma |
| center within the Region; | |
(8) A program for conducting a quarterly conference |
| which shall include at a minimum a discussion of morbidity and mortality between all professional staff involved in the care of trauma patients; | |
(9) The establishment of a Regional trauma quality |
| assurance and improvement subcommittee, consisting of trauma surgeons, which shall perform periodic medical audits of each trauma center's trauma services, and forward tabulated data from such reviews to the Department; and | |
(10) The establishment, within 90 days of the |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996, of an internal disaster plan, which shall include, at a minimum, contingency plans for the transfer of patients to other facilities if an evacuation of the hospital becomes necessary due to a catastrophe, including but not limited to, a power failure. | |
(c) The Region's EMS Medical Directors and Trauma Center Medical Directors Committees shall appoint any subcommittees which they deem necessary to address specific issues concerning Region activities.
(Source: P.A. 96‑514, eff. 1‑1‑10.) |