Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(A) No service, or agent thereof including,
but not limited to, its EMS personnel, shall refuse in the case of an emergency
to dispatch an available EMS vehicle and to provide emergency response,
assessment and treatment, within the service's regular operating area, in
accordance with the Statewide Treatment Protocols, at the scene or during
transport, or to transport a patient to an appropriate health care facility in
accordance with the applicable service zone plan.
(B)
Primary Ambulance
Response.
(1) Upon receipt of a
call to respond to an emergency, the service zone's primary ambulance service,
or a service operating pursuant to a service zone agreement, and the closest
appropriate designated EFR service(s), if any, shall be immediately notified
and dispatched in accordance with the applicable service zone plan and
105
CMR
170.510(I)(3)(f).
(2) When the primary ambulance service
receives a call, it shall ensure that the closest ambulance is immediately
dispatched, in accordance with the service zone plan. If the primary ambulance
service dispatcher believes at the time the call is received that an ambulance
is not available for immediate dispatch, or believes that another ambulance
service has the capacity to reach the scene in a significantly shorter period
of time, the dispatcher shall immediately contact the ambulance service with
the closest ambulance, in accordance with the service zone plan.
(3) When an ambulance service with a provider
contract providing primary ambulance response pursuant to a service zone
agreement receives a call for primary ambulance response, if it believes at the
time the call is received that it cannot meet the service zone standards for
primary ambulance response, the ambulance service must immediately refer the
call to the primary ambulance service, unless otherwise provided in the service
zone plan.
(4) When an ambulance
service other than the primary ambulance service receives a call to provide
primary ambulance response that is not pursuant to a provider contract and a
service zone agreement, it must immediately refer the call to the primary
ambulance service.
(C)
Prior to the approval of a service zone plan.
(1) No service, or agent thereof including,
but not limited to, its EMS personnel, shall refuse in the case of an emergency
to dispatch an available ambulance and to provide emergency response,
assessment and treatment, within the service's regular operating area, in
accordance with the Statewide Treatment Protocols, at the scene or during
transport, or to transport a patient to an appropriate health care
facility.
(2) Upon receipt of a
call to respond to an emergency, the ambulance service shall immediately
dispatch a Class I ambulance.
(3)
If the ambulance service dispatcher believes at the time a call is received
that a Class I ambulance is not available for immediate dispatch, the
dispatcher shall immediately contact the ambulance service's backup service
pursuant to
105
CMR 170.385. If the ambulance service
dispatcher believes that another ambulance service has an ambulance that can
reach the scene in a significantly shorter period of time, the dispatcher shall
immediately notify:
(a) The other ambulance
service, which shall immediately dispatch an ambulance, and
(b) Police or fire in the town in which the
emergency has occurred.
(D) As soon as there is a Department-approved
service zone plan, no ambulance service shall provide primary ambulance
response in a service zone, unless:
(1) It is
the designated primary ambulance service; or
(2) It is acting pursuant to a service zone
agreement, in accordance with a Department-approved service zone plan and
105
CMR 170.249.
(E) Each service whose regular operating area
includes all or part of the service zone in which a mass casualty incident
occurs must immediately dispatch available EMS resources upon request by the
primary ambulance service.
