IN THE FIRESTONE SENATE
April 11, 2023
An Act to Allow EMS to Forcibly Transport Certain Patients (R)
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Firestone in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1 - SEVERABILITY & ENACTMENT
(a) Should any part of this act be struck down and/or declared unenforceable, then this entire act shall be declared unenforceable.
(b) Upon the completion of the constitutionally required processes, this act shall enter into effect immediately.
SECTION 2 - DEFINITIONS
(a) The “State Registry of Health” shall be defined as a database that is managed by the Department of Health and designated by either the Secretary of Health or the Supervisory Board. The State Registry of Health contains all medical certifications in the State of Firestone and, for the purposes of this legislation, any medical certification not listed on the State Registry of Health shall not be valid.
(b) A “medically certified individual” or “EMT” shall be defined as an individual who actively possesses an Emergency Medical Technician-Basic (EMT-B) certification that is listed on the State Registry of Health or an individual who possesses a certification that is designated as a medically certified individual by Supervisory Board Policy.
(c) Medically certified individuals and any other individual(s) who are described as being on duty shall only retain the authority, power, and exemptions given to them by this legislation if they are on duty for a legitimate, government law enforcement agency/department (including the Firestone National Guard) or a legitimate, government department that has a duty of providing medical treatment.
(d) An “altered mental status” shall be defined as a mental status caused by illness or injury that severely prohibits an individual’s ability to make reasonable decisions, comprehend the consequences of their decisions, comprehend the situation they are in, or evaluate dangers or risks of a decision or situation. An individual may only be determined to have an altered mental status if they fail one or multiple tests or exams set forth by the Supervisory Board that have the purpose of determining if the patient has an altered mental status or if they meet criteria set forth by the Supervisory Board.
(e) A “Medical Center” shall be defined as any area designated as a patient treatment area or location. This includes, but is not limited to, the Stapleton County Medical Center, triage zones, and the Department of Corrections Correctional Facility Medical ward. The Supervisory Board may, at their discretion, designate and regulate medical centers.
(f) The “Supervisory Board” shall be defined through Chapter 2 of the Healthcare Reformation Act (R) unless it is nullified, in which case the “Supervisory Board” shall be defined through any relevant statue that defines the “Supervisory Board” as a medical board or similar.
SECTION 3 - EXEMPTIONS
(a) An on-duty medically certified individual, as well as any on-duty law enforcement officer who is assisting a medically certified individual or multiple thereof, may forcibly transport a patient to a medical center and shall be exempt from any unlawful criminal offense that would prevent them from doing so, if:
(a1) the patient has an altered mental status, poses an immediate and substantial risk of injury or death to themselves or others due to diagnosed or reasonably suspected mental injury or illness, or is unconscious; and
(a2) the forcible transportation was approved by (or ordered by) an individual authorized to do so by Supervisory Board policy and the approval or order complied with other related/relevant Supervisory Board policy; and
(a3) the patient does not refuse transportation by explicitly ending the roleplay and reasonably appears to be attempting at roleplaying with the on-scene medically certified individual(s); and
(a4) the forcible transportation does not unreasonably divert from the designated medical center and the arrival of the patient to a medical center is not unreasonably delayed; and
(a5) the patient is transported in a vehicle that is equipped with an emergency lighting system (it does not have to be activated) or a vehicle that is operated by a medical unit in the Firestone National Guard; and
(a6) the medically certified individual does not violate any Supervisory Board policy that is designed to set guidelines or procedures for the forcible transportation of patients or is designed to protect patients who are being forcibly transported and that states if such policy is violated, then the medically certified individual shall not be afforded the exemptions provided by this act for forcibly transporting a patient.
(b) Medically certified individual(s) shall be exempt from any unlawful criminal offense that would prevent them from providing reasonably required medical treatment to a patient that fits any of the criteria prescribed in Section 3a1 of this legislation regardless of whether the patient consents or not. The medical treatment must be within the scope of practice of at least one of the medically certified individual’s medical certifications and must be performed in compliance with the guidelines, policies, and procedures set forth by the Supervisory Board and the medically certified individual’s training (unless the training for that specific medical treatment is outdated or was never provided, in which case the most recent available guideline, policy, procedure, and/or training relating to such treatment shall be required instead of the medically certified individual’s initial training or lack thereof).
SECTION 4 - PROVISIONS
(a) Medically certified individuals shall not be afforded the exemptions prescribed in Section 3 of this legislation for actions that are unreasonably harmful to the patient or others, for any unreasonable force used against the patient while transporting them or attempting to transport them, or for the commission of any unlawful criminal offense that is not reasonably required for the forcible transportation of the patient.
(b) If an individual who is authorized to approve or order forcible transportation by policy set forth by the Supervisory Board approves or orders the forcible transportation of a patient and violates this act or a Supervisory Board Policy by doing so, they may be charged as an accessory to any unlawful criminal offense that is performed by the medically certified individual(s) who are forcibly transporting the patient, unless the unlawful criminal offense was not required for the forcible transportation of the patient.
(b) If a medically certified individual forcibly transports a patient after being ordered or approved to do so by an approved individual when the patient does not meet criteria in Section 3a1 of this legislation, they shall still be afforded the exemptions prescribed in Section 3 of this legislation unless
(b1a) the forcible transportation is being performed on the grounds of the patient having an altered mental status and the patient has shown or is showing obvious and substantial signs of not having an altered mental status while in the vicinity of the medically certified individual, obviously does not meet criteria set forth by the Supervisory Board that has the purpose of determining if a patient has an altered mental status, or passed a test or exam utilized to determine if a patient has an altered mental status while in the vicinity of the medically certified individual; or
(b1b) the forcible transportation is being performed on the grounds of the patient posing an immediate and substantial risk of injury or death to themselves or others due to mental injury or illness and the patient is obviously not posing an immediate and substantial risk of injury or death to themselves or others.
CHIEF-SPONSOR
Mega_Goalie16, Senator
CO-SPONSOR
cirt31, Secretary of Health