Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
Local jurisdictions shall ensure that each service zone plan
contains, at a minimum, the following elements:
(A) A current inventory of EMS and public
safety providers and resources including, but not limited to:
(1) the designated primary ambulance
service;
(2) ambulance services
that have service zone agreements with the designated primary ambulance service
for primary ambulance response in the service zone, in accordance with
105
CMR 170.249;
(3) all other ambulance services whose
regular operating area includes in whole or in part any local jurisdiction in
the service zone;
(4) designated
EFR service(s), if any;
(5) health
care facilities, including nursing homes;
(6) first response agencies and locations of
trained first responders;
(7)
others in the community trained to provide emergency response, such as ski
patrols, and EMTs at schools or senior citizens' centers;
(8) emergency medical dispatch and public
safety answering point (PSAP); and
(9) automatic/semi-automatic defibrillators
and their locations.
(B)
An open, fair and inclusive process for the selection and changing of EMS
service delivery or designated service zone providers.
(C) Criteria for the selection of designated
service zone providers. Potential service zone providers shall be evaluated on
their ability to meet local standards for specific EMS performance criteria.
Local standards shall at minimum meet any and all relevant standards in
105 CMR
170.000. Specific EMS performance criteria include,
but are not limited to, the following:
(1)
response time;
(2) adequate
backup;
(3) deployment of
resources;
(4) level of service and
level of licensure of designated service zone providers;
(5) medical control; and
(6) appropriate health care facility
destinations, in accordance with the applicable Regional EMS Council's
point-of-entry plan, as approved by the Department.
(D) Recommended service zone providers,
chosen in accordance with the process and criteria established in the service
zone plan, pursuant to
105
CMR 170.510(B) and (C). The
local jurisdiction shall recommend for designation one primary ambulance
service, and may recommend one or more EMS first response services as service
zone providers.
(E) Service zone
agreements, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111C, § 10(d) and
105
CMR 170.249.
(F) A process for monitoring compliance with
the service zone's local standards for specific EMS performance
criteria.
(G) A medical control
plan, which shall at a minimum, consist of collection, review and monitoring of
current affiliation agreements, consistent with
105
CMR 170.300, of EMS services operating in the
service zone.
(H) Operational plan
for coordinating the use of all first responder agencies in the service zone
that are not EMS first response services, and others trained as first
responders, and voluntarily providing first response services, including the
location of each of these agencies and persons.
(I) Operational plan for ensuring dispatch
and response to emergencies of the closest, appropriate, available EMS
services, in accordance with
105
CMR 170.355, including:
(1) Coordination and optimal use of all
licensed services for emergency response, including the following:
(a) primary ambulance service;
(b) ambulance services with service zone
agreements with the primary ambulance service, pursuant to
105
CMR 170.249;
(c) ambulance services who have backup
agreements with services referenced in
105
CMR 170.510(I)(1)(a) and
(b); and
(d) EFR services, if any.
(2) Location of all licensed EMS
services; and
(3) Clear criteria
for determining which ambulance service has the closest appropriate ambulance,
and when EFR services, if any, should be dispatched, based on factors
including, but not limited to, the following:
(a) type of emergency or patient
condition;
(b) base locations of
services;
(c) hours of
operation;
(d) number, hours and
location of EMS personnel;
(e)
services' capabilities; and
(f) No
service zone plan may include criteria for the notification and dispatch of a
designated EFR service to a facility licensed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 111, §
71 or certified pursuant to M.G.L. c. 19D, where there is a licensed health
care professional on-site 24 hours per day seven days per week, and where there
is a provider contract in place to provide primary ambulance response, unless a
licensed health care professional at such facility requests primary ambulance
response by dialing the emergency telephone access number 911, or its local
equivalent. Nothing herein shall bar any person from dialing 911 or its local
equivalent.
(J)
Procedures for delivery of patient care reports and unprotected exposure forms
to receiving health care facilities.
