HomeMy WebLinkAbout2228 Amending Ordinances 2199, 2203, 2213 and 2225 - Regulating Ambulance ServiceORDINANCE NO. ~- z ~-~
AN ORDINANCE PERTAINING TO THE REGULATION OF
AMBULANCE AND RELATED SERVICES WITHIN THE
CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND; AME~ING ORDINANCE
2199, AS AMENDED, TOGETHER kqTH SECTIONS OF
CHAPTER 5.90 OF THE PORT TOWNSEND MUNICIPAL
CODE; MAKING ADDITIONAL FINDINGS; PROVIDING
FOR RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF AMBULANCE PER-
SONNEL LICENSES AND AMBULANCE VEHICLE IN-
SPECTIONS BY OTHER JURISDICTIONS; AND ESTAB-
LISHINGAN EFFECTIVE DATE
The City Council for the City of Port Townsend, after review
and study, finds that:
1. The City Council passed Ordinance 2199 regulating certain
ambulance services within the City of Port Townsend, the effective
date of which Ordinance was amended bv Ordinance 2203, Ordinance
2213 and Ordinance 2225.
2. The City Council has considered written and oral submis-
sions of the Port Townsend Fire Department, the Jefferson County
Medical Program Director and other parties through this date, and
finds that certain Sections of Ordinance 2199, as amended, should
be amended, and that certain Sections should be added to the Or-
dinance.
3. The State of Washington is not adequately equipped or
financed to fully enforce and oversee the regulations pertaining
to ambulance and similar services.
4. The City Council further finds that a program of recipro-
cal recognition of ambulance personnel licenses and ambulance ve-
hicle inspections of other jurisdictions should be established.
Now, therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWn, SEND DO ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. That Finding No. 3 of Ordinance 2199 be and the
same is here and hereby amended to read as follows:
"(3) The City has designated the Port To%n~send
Fire Department as the agency responsible for the delivery of pre-
hospital and post-hospital (eme~gemey) interfacility critical care .~translpo~ rta-
tion and care for all citizens within th~ City limits, and the oep--~t-i~
also responsible to oversee quality control and operations of all ambulance
services including, any of these services delegated to ~ualified provi~ys; and"
ORDINANCE
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Section 2. Section 5..90.010 of Section 1 of Ordinance 2199, to-
gether with section 5.90.010 of the Port Townsend Municipal Code, is
here and hereby amended to read as follows:
"ft,_9..0_~0.k~! p_e.f~ijliLfLons_~ For the purposes of this Ch~npter, the following
def:[nitions shall apply:
A. "Ambulance" means a ground vel~ic].e designed and use~l to tr.'a~sport
the ill. and injured and to provide personnel, facilities and equipment
to treat patients before and during transportation where it is not
anticipated that emergency medical care will be required during
g]:ansportation.
~ j'_Medi.c Uni~'~ (MiCU~,, ipeans .~n...~mbul_a_nce~vebic!.e .Qper~ated by the C~tv
t~l]i~h routinely carries oersonnel certified at th.e_level, of Daramedi~c
_ai~' routine!? en.~a~es iD ..th~ °r°visi°n of prebqsoital~..advanced llfe
s_iup_oo~r~atient care ~
~ .,]!nterfacil..i.tY CritiD.a~_Car_D" .means providinq...advanced life support
~e{.! i_.q.a...l__c__a .r_e_~ o___oa tie n t s be in3 t r~anspor t~_ed, be tw. een . ..h~ospit a ] s.
D~. "Emergency medical care" or "e,nergency" means a sudden and/or
u~,~e:<i~ected meal.].cai problem which requires the immediate assistance of an
agency trained in and designatecl to provide pre-]~ospital medical care.
e~. "Mon-emergency medical care" means a medical condition which is not
s,~dden and/or unexpected, therefore not requiring immediate assistance
and results in a scheduled response. Pre-hospital initiation of drug
tl~erapy (with the exception of oxygens) or field intravenous fluid lines
wo~ld ]~ot be expected for non-emergency patients.
D.~.. "Post-hospital interfacility critical care transports" refers to
patJ. ents transported from one hospital to another hospital for
specialize'd critical .care and shall also be considered included withln
"non-emergency medical care."
E~. "Emergency Medical Technician" (EMT) means a person who is
certified as such by the Secretary, pursuant to RCW 18.73, and
regulations promulgated thereunder.
~. "Mutual aid" refers to situations in which a licensed non-emergency
ambulance service is required, as determined by the Fire Department, to
make ambulances and personnel available for emergency response under the
City's direction.
.~!. "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Washington State Department
of Health, Emergency Medical Services Division."
ORDINANCE ~ zz-~'~ - 2 - ~-~
~Section 3. Section 5.90,.020 of Section 1 of Ordinance 2199, to-
gether with Section 5.90.020 of the Port Townsend Municipal Code, are
each here and hereby amended to read as follows:
"5.90.020 Applicabi]itv~
· 1 emer encv medical service is and shall be provided in t]~e City
A A1 g .~ ..... -'-~ ,~=~ment The orovisions of this Chapter
of Port Townsen~ Dy ~ns ~= ~~ i .... ~ ~ased within the City
-emer enc amDu~= o~~ ~
shall apply to non - · ~ Y- ~ ~- ~- ~ a re~l~ basis (75% or ~re of ~e
~d also to ~ose ~ose v~cies ~er u~ ~ ~, ~- ~o (~ive~-~)
. ·
atl~t tes ~ ~
B. Nothing herein shall prohibit the Fire Department from operating
non-emergency ambulance services."
'Section 4. Section 5.90.070 of Section 1 of Ordinance 2199, to-
gether with Section 5.90.070 of the Port To, send Municipal Code, are
each here and hereby amended to read as follows:
"5.90.070
A. Ail services performed hereunder shall be in accordance with the
standards and principles of the course of instruction given EMTs and
pursuant to local medical protocols establisheh from time to time by the
Jefferson County Medical Program Director.
1]. Each ambulance service licensed under this Chapter shall,
immediately upon the issuance of a license, file with the City
Clerk/Treasurer its schedule of 'rates to be charged for its services fcr
the duration of the calendar year in ~hich the license is issued.
Thereafter, each ambulance service licensed under this Chapter shall
annually file with the City Clerk/Treasurer its schedule of rates to be
charged for its services. The annual rate schedule shall be filed on or
before the first day of December of the year preceding the year for
which the schedule is to be in effect.
C. Ali. rate schedules filed pursuant to t]~is Section s{~all be a m~ntter
of public record and open to public inscection at the office of tile City
Clerk during normal business hours. Each licensee shall strictly adhere
to its schedule throughout the calendar year for which that schedule has
been fi].ed; provJ, ded that a licensee may charge ancJ collect rates in
sccor¢iance with a revised rate schedule by filing the revised schedule
with tile City Clerk not less than one full calendar month prior to the
effective date of the revised schedule.
I). It is unlawful for anyone driving or operating an ambulance to
charge, demand, collect or receive any greater or less rate or fare than
those then curre, ntly filed with the City Clerk. It is unlawful for any
ambulni~ce operator to. give directly or indirectly, or cause to be given,
ar{.y rebates, co,u,nissions, reserve rebates or any reduced rates or cash
dJ scou~{ts to any person or persons or groups of any nature, except as
.{]sted on its then current schedule of rates on file witl~ the City
Clerk.
ORDINANCE ~-~v.~ - 3 - ]kl~-~
E. A Washington State mmdical incident report (MIR) shall be logged by ambulance crews
for each pre-hospital patient transported and shall include the appearance and status of
and treatmant aCmnnzstered to injured, sick or incapacitated persons treated or trans-
ported. (Copies of such records shall be mailed or otherwise delivered to the (Fi~e-Pe-
pa~mem~) Medical Program Director on a weekly basis, or more'often if requested for
good cause, i-ne bMDwiii revz~ these transports to ensure appropriateness of commercial
ambulance utilization. The MPDwill provide the City with demographic information as re-
quested by the City. (Faeep~-as-s~hemcise-p~vi~e~-~y-~e-~e§~ai~emam~s-~-~e-$~a~e-~-
~ie-~fse~ss~e-Ae~-s~eh-~ees~s-a~e-eenf~em~ia~-an~-s~a~-be-~e~ease~-en~y-~s-p~spe~-
F.~ Each licensee of an ambulance under this chapter shall maintain complete and accurate
records, which records shall include the transpOrtation oC'"each patient within the CitT,
or 'from one place within the City to anOther Place within the City Or beyond its City
limits. All records shall be available for inspection by the City Clerk or his duly
authorized representative at all reasonable times.
G. The provision of subsection (F) of this section shall likewise apply in cases if a.'
patient dies before being so transported in such ambulance or experiences cardiac or. res-
piratory arrest v~ile being so transported therein or at any time prior..to the' delivery
of the patient to a hospital or medical or other authority, if the patient is still under
the care and responsibility of the ambulance licensee.
FH, Each ambulance operator shall deposit with the City Clerk a certificate of insur-
ance evidencing comprehensive general liability, auto liability and malpractice insur-
ance issuad by a responsible insurance company to be approved by the City and naming the
City as an additional insured. The limits of the policy shall be not less than $1,000,-
000.00. The insurance certificate shall be.submitted to the City Clerk for approval
prior to the issuance of each ambulance license. Satisfactory evidence that such insur-
ance is at all times'in full force and effect shall be furnished to the City Clerk, in
such form as the City Clerk may specify, by all licensees required to provide such in-
surance under the terms of this chapter. Every insurance policy required under this.
section shall extend for and cover all claims arising during the period to be covered by
the license applied for, notv~thstanding such claim, or claims may actually be made there-
after, and the insurer shall be. obliged to give not less than 30 days written notice to
the City Clerk and to the inSured before any cancellation or termination of the policy
earliet t/nan its expiration date. Cancellation or other termination of any such policy
shall automatically revoke and terminate any license issued for the ambulances co~ered by
such policy, unless a substitute insurance policy complying with the provisions of this
section shall be provided and be in effect at o~ prior to the time of such cancellation or
term/nation."
Section 5. ,"here is here and hereby added to Section 1 of Ordinance 2199, and to
Chapter 5.90 of the Port To%nsend bMnicipal Code, a new section to be referred to as Sec-
tion 5.90. 075: Reciprocal Recognition of Ambulance Personnel Licenses and Ambulance Ve-
hicle Inspections, as follows:
5.90.075: Reci?rocal Recognition of Ambulance Personnel Licenses and Ambulance Vehicle
Inspections.
A. To avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, expense and hardship, this section shall
be applied when ambulance vehicles and ambulance perso~el are licensed or hold valid am-
bulance or ambulance personnel licenses from other cities, and apply for a license in the
City of Port Townsend'. Before the reciprocity, provided for in this section is recognized,
the conditions set forth in this section must be satisfied.
OP~DINANCE ~ 2'Ag _ ~ _ ~-~-~
B. Ambulance service personnel who apply for a Port To~send ambu-
lance license may be granted reciprocity on the following terms and
conditions:
1. The applicant produces a valid license issued to him or her
from another city to provide ambulance service.
2. The ambulance licensing requirements of such other city are
found by the City of Port Townsend to meet or exceed the licensing
requirements of the City of Port Townsend.
3. The applicant is able to verify his or her identification
with a photo identification issued by a state or by the federal gov-
ernment, such as a valid driver's license, valid military identifica-
tion card, valid passport, or similar identification, and
4. The applicant shall pay to the City of Port Townsend a filing
fee of $5.00.
5. In addition, any license issued hereunder as a reciprocal
license shall provide for an expiration date no later than the ex-
piration date of the applicant's original license from the other
jurisdiction.
C. Ambulance vehicles which are then currently licensed and have
been inspected under another city's ambulance ordinance or regula-
tions may be granted reciprocity such that an inspection or license
of the City of Port Townsend is not 'required as follows:
1. The operator shall produce a valid license, or other accept-
able documentation of approved inspection, issued for the vehicle
from another city.
2. The other city's licensing and inspection requirements are
found by the City of Port Townsend to meet or exceed the licensing
and inspection requirements of the City of Port Townsend.
3. The applicant is able to verify the vehicle's identification
with the Certificate of Title issued by the State of Washington De-
partment of Licensing for the vehicle.
4. The applicant shall pay a $5.00 filing fee.
5. In addition, any license issued hereunder as a reciprocal
documentation of approved inspection shall provide for an expiration
date no later than the expiration date of the applicant's original
license or documentation from the other jurisdiction.
D. In such cases for ambulance service personnel or ambulance vehi-
cles which qualify for reciprocity under this Section, a special
license shall be issued by the City for suCh personnel or such vehi-
ORDINANCE zz Zf - 5 - %.%.kg
cle, as the case may be, indicating that the same is a reciprocal li-
cense or based upon a reciprocal inspection pursuant to the terms of
this Section, and which license or inspection shall otherwise comply
with the provisions of this Chapter.
Section 6. Severability. If any term or provision or part
thereof of this Ordinance is declared to be invalid or unenforceable
by any Court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Ordin-
ance, or of such term or provision not affected by such ruling, shall
continue in full force and effect.
Section 7. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be effective
upon its passage, approval and publication in the form and manner
provided by law.
Read for the first, second and third times, passed by the City
Council of the City of Port Townsend and signed and approved by the
Mayor of the City this /qv~ day of F~M/k~ , 199 ! .
Attest:
Dav±d ~~. ~ro~lerk
Approv~d as to form:
K~i~h C.' H~rpdr,~ Cyfy Attorney
Passed by City Council: %/1~
Published: , 199
Effective date: , 199
ORDINANCE
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