Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
Roles and responsibilities. A medical command physician
functions under the direction of a medical command facility medical director
and the auspices of a medical command facility. A medical command physician is
responsible for:
(1) Providing medical
command to EMS providers whenever they seek direction.
(2) Issuing medical command consistent with
Statewide protocols and protocols that are in effect either in the region in
which EMS originates or the region from which the EMS providers who are
providing EMS begin receiving medical command direction. For good cause, a
medical command physician may give medical command that is inconsistent with
these protocols.
(3) Documenting
patient information received from EMS providers and medical command given to
EMS providers, including when the medical command physician is providing
medical command at the scene.
(b)
Minimum qualifications.
To qualify and continue to function as a medical command physician, an
individual shall be serving as a medical command physician immediately prior to
February 16, 2010, or:
(1) Complete an
application for medical command physician certification on a form or through an
electronic application process, as prescribed by the Department.
(2) Be a physician.
(3) Satisfy one of the following:
(i) Have successfully completed a residency
program in emergency medicine accredited by a residency program accrediting
body recognized by the State Board of Medicine or the State Board of
Osteopathic Medicine.
(ii) Have had
an emergency medicine practice in another jurisdiction and establish to the
Department that the physician has a combination of training, education and
emergency medicine practice that makes the physician qualified to serve as a
medical command physician.
(iii)
Have successfully completed or taught the ACLS course within the preceding 2
years and have completed or taught the ATLS course and either an APLS or PALS
course or other program determined by the Department to meet or exceed the
standards of these programs.
(4) Have an arrangement with a medical
command facility to serve as a medical command physician for that facility
after receiving certification as a medical command physician.
(5) Be practicing as an emergency medicine
physician, be participating as a resident in a second or subsequent year in an
emergency medicine residency program accredited by an accrediting body
recognized by the State Board of Medicine or the State Board of Osteopathic
Medicine or have had at least 3 years of experience as a full-time emergency
medicine physician.
(6) Have a
current Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) number or be an emergency medicine
resident in an emergency medicine residency program accredited by an
accrediting body recognized by the State Board of Medicine or the State Board
of Osteopathic Medicine who is authorized to use a hospital's DEA number for
practice within the emergency medicine residency program.
(7) Have successfully completed the medical
command course.
(c)
Triennial registration. A medical command physician's
certification is deemed registered for 3 years. Thereafter, a medical command
physician shall triennially register the certification on a form or through an
electronic process, as prescribed by the Department. The Department will issue
a new registration within 30 days after the application for registration is
filed if the application demonstrates that the medical command physician:
(1) Maintains licensure as a
physician.
(2) Has an arrangement
with a medical command facility to serve as a medical command physician for
that facility.
(3) Is practicing as
an emergency medicine physician or has had at least 3 years of experience as a
full-time emergency medicine physician.
(4) Has completed the most recent update or
refresher course that the Department provided on Statewide and other applicable
Department-approved EMS protocols.
This section cited in 28 Pa. Code §
1031.8 (relating to discipline of
medical command physicians and medical command facility medical
directors).
