36-2202. Duties of the director; qualifications of medical director

A. The director shall:

1. Appoint a medical director of the emergency medical services and trauma system.

2. Adopt standards and criteria for the denial or granting of certification and recertification of emergency medical care technicians. These standards shall allow the department to certify qualified emergency medical care technicians who have completed statewide standardized training required under section 36-2204, paragraph 1 and a standardized certification test required under section 36-2204, paragraph 2 or who hold valid certification with a national certification organization. Before the director may consider approving a statewide standardized training or a standardized certification test, or both, each of these must first be recommended by the medical direction commission and the emergency medical services council to ensure that the standardized training content is consistent with national education standards and that the standardized certification tests examines comparable material to that examined in the tests of a national certification organization.

3. Adopt standards and criteria that pertain to the quality of emergency care pursuant to section 36-2204.

4. Adopt rules necessary to carry out this chapter. Each rule shall identify all sections and subsections of this chapter under which the rule was formulated.

5. Adopt reasonable medical equipment, supply, staffing and safety standards, criteria and procedures for issuance of a certificate of registration to operate an ambulance.

6. Maintain a state system for recertifying emergency medical care technicians, except as otherwise provided by section 36-2202.01, that is independent from any national certification organization recertification process. This system shall allow emergency medical care technicians to choose to be recertified under the state or the national certification organization recertification system subject to subsection H of this section.

B. Emergency medical technicians who choose the state recertification process shall recertify in one of the following ways:

1. Successfully completing an emergency medical technician refresher course approved by the department.

2. Successfully completing an emergency medical technician challenge course approved by the department.

3. For emergency medical care technicians who are currently certified at the emergency medical technician level by the department, attesting on a form provided by the department that the applicant holds a valid and current cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification, has and will maintain documented proof of a minimum of twenty-four hours of continuing medical education within the last two years consistent with department rules and has functioned in the capacity of an emergency medical technician for at least two hundred forty hours during the last two years.

C. After consultation with the emergency medical services council the director may authorize pilot programs designed to improve the safety and efficiency of ambulance inspections for governmental or quasi-governmental entities that provide emergency medical services in this state.

D. The rules, standards and criteria adopted by the director pursuant to subsection A, paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this section shall be adopted in accordance with title 41, chapter 6, except that the director may adopt on an emergency basis pursuant to section 41-1026 rules relating to the regulation of ambulance services in this state necessary to protect the public peace, health and safety in advance of adopting rules, standards and criteria as otherwise provided by this subsection.

E. The director may waive the requirement for compliance with a protocol adopted pursuant to section 36-2205 if the director determines that the techniques, drug formularies or training makes the protocol inconsistent with contemporary medical practices.

F. The director may suspend a protocol adopted pursuant to section 36-2205 if the director does all of the following:

1. Determines that the rule is not in the public's best interest.

2. Initiates procedures pursuant to title 41, chapter 6 to repeal the rule.

3. Notifies all interested parties in writing of the director's action and the reasons for that action. Parties interested in receiving notification shall submit a written request to the director.

G. To be eligible for appointment as the medical director of the emergency medical services and trauma system, the person shall be qualified in emergency medicine and shall be licensed as a physician in one of the states of the United States.

H. Applicants for certification shall apply to the director for certification. Emergency medical care technicians shall apply for recertification to the director every two years. The director may extend the expiration date of an emergency medical care technician's certificate for thirty days. The department shall establish a fee for this extension by rule. Emergency medical care technicians shall pass an examination administered by the department as a condition for recertification only if required to do so by the advanced life support base hospital's medical director or the emergency medical care technician's medical director.

I. The medical director of the emergency medical services and trauma system is exempt from title 41, chapter 4, articles 5 and 6 and is entitled to receive compensation pursuant to section 38-611, subsection A.

J. The standards, criteria and procedures adopted by the director pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 5 of this section shall require that ambulance services serving a rural or wilderness certificate of necessity area with a population of less than ten thousand persons according to the most recent United States decennial census have at least one ambulance attendant as defined in section 36-2201, paragraph 6, subdivision (a) and one ambulance attendant as defined in section 36-2201, paragraph 6, subdivision (b) staffing an ambulance while transporting a patient and that ambulance services serving a population of ten thousand persons or more according to the most recent United States decennial census have at least one ambulance attendant as defined in section 36-2201, paragraph 6, subdivision (a) and one ambulance attendant as defined in section 36-2201, paragraph 6, subdivision (a), (c), (d) or (e) staffing an ambulance while transporting a patient.

K. If the department determines there is not a qualified administrative medical director, the department shall ensure the provision of administrative medical direction for an emergency medical technician if the emergency medical technician meets all of the following criteria:

1. Is employed by a nonprofit or governmental provider employing less than twelve full-time emergency medical technicians.

2. Stipulates to the inability to secure a physician who is willing to provide administrative medical direction.

3. Stipulates that the provider agency does not provide administrative medical direction for its employees.