Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a) An air
medical director shall be a physician, fully licensed to practice in the State
of Oklahoma, with a background in flight medicine, pre-hospital and/or
emergency medicine. The physician shall know the aircraft limitations for
in-flight patient care.
(b) An air
ambulance service based in another state may have as its air medical director a
physician who is not licensed to practice in the State of Oklahoma but is fully
licensed in good standing in the home state of the air ambulance service. The
air medical director shall meet all other qualifications listed in this
subchapter.
(c) Licensed air
ambulance services will have a plan or policy describing how the agency will
address a sudden lapse of medical direction, such as a back-up medical
director, that is used to ensure coverage when a physician is not
available.
(d) The Department shall
be notified the next business day of any lapse or change of medical direction
by air ambulance service. If the agency has made arrangements for a back-up
medical director or an immediate replacement, then no lapse has
occurred.
(e) In the event of a
lapse in medical direction, in that, there is not a medical director providing
the authority for the agency's licensed personnel, the agency will, pursuant to
63 O.S. Section
1-2506,
relating to the medical authority to perform medical procedures
(1) cease all operations involving patient
care,
(2) implement mutual aid
plans to ensure requests for service receive responses until the agency is able
to implement their plan or policy for a substitute or back-up medical
director.
(f) The air
ambulance service medical director shall:
(1)
Attend or demonstrate participation in:
(A)
medical director training provided by the Department subject to the
availability of funding. Verification of attendance or participation will be
maintained at the agency;
(B) one
hour of continuing education specific to providing medical oversight to EMS
providers and agencies each year, provided by the Department subject to the
availability of funding.
(2) demonstrate appropriate training and
experience in adult and pediatric emergency medical services, which may include
pediatric, adult, and trauma life support courses or equivalency. Training and
experience may also include appropriate board training.
(3) be accessible, knowledgeable, and
actively involved in quality assurance and the educational activities of the
agency's personnel and supervise a quality assurance (QA) program by either
direct involvement or appropriate designation and surveillance of the
responsible designee(s). The appointment of a designee does not absolve the
medical director of their responsibility for providing oversight.
(4) Each air ambulance quality assurance
policy shall include, but not be limited to:
(A) patient care interventions to ensure
appropriate patient care,
(B)
policy to review air ambulance utilization,
(C) policy to review airway
management,
(D) policy to review
cardiac arrest management,
(E)
other reports not specifically identified,
(F) a process to prove internal and external
feedback of quality assurance findings.
(5) Provide a written statement to the
Department, which includes:
(A) an agreement
to provide medical direction and establish treatment protocols and the agency
specific scope of practice for all certified and licensed agency
personnel;
(B) the physician's
primary practice address or home address if the physician does not have a
practice, and email address(es);
(C) an OBNDD registrant number or appropriate
state equivalent, as appropriate;
(D) current Oklahoma medical
license;
(E) demonstrate
appropriate training and experience in the types of patients the service will
be transporting. Demonstrated training may include board training and
appropriate certifications or supplemental training.
(F) Develop on-line and off-line specific
medical protocols with medication formulary for patientcare techniques.
Protocols shall include medication to be used, treatment modalities for patient
care procedures, and appropriate security procedures for controlled dangerous
substances;
(g) A physician may be the medical director
for more than one (1) service.
