The bureau is designated as the lead agency for the emergency medical services system, including injury prevention, and shall establish and maintain a program for regional planning and development, improvement, expansion and direction of emergency medical services throughout the state, including:

A. design, development, implementation and coordination of emergency medical services communications systems to join the personnel, facilities and equipment of a given region or system that will allow for medical direction;

B. provision of technical assistance to the public regulation commission for further development and implementation of standards for certification of ambulance services, vehicles and equipment;

C. development of requirements for the collection of data and statistics to evaluate the availability, operation and quality of providers in the state;

D. adoption of rules for emergency medical services medical direction upon the recommendation of the medical direction committee;

E. approval of continuing education programs for emergency medical services personnel;

F. adoption of rules pertaining to the training and licensure of emergency medical dispatchers and their instructors;

G. adoption of rules based upon the recommendations of a trauma advisory committee, for implementation and monitoring of a statewide, comprehensive trauma care system, including:

(1) minimum standards for designation or retention of designation as a trauma center or a participating trauma facility;

(2) pre-hospital care management guidelines for the triage and transportation of traumatized persons;

(3) establishment for interfacility transfer criteria and transfer agreements;

(4) standards for collection of data relating to trauma system operation, patient outcome and trauma prevention; and

(5) creation of a state trauma care plan;

H. adoption of rules, based upon the recommendations of the air transport advisory committee, for the certification of air ambulance services;

I. adoption of rules pertaining to authorization of providers to honor advance directives, such as emergency medical services do not resuscitate forms, to withhold or terminate care in certain pre-hospital or interfacility circumstances, as guided by local medical protocols;

J. operation of a critical incident stress management program for emergency providers utilizing specifically trained volunteers who shall be considered public employees for the purposes of the Tort Claims Act [41-4-1 to 41-4-27 NMSA 1978] when called upon to perform their duties;

K. adoption of rules to establish a cardiac arrest targeted response program pursuant to the Cardiac Arrest Response Act [24-10C-1 to 24-10C-7 NMSA 1978], including registration of automated external defibrillator programs, maintenance of equipment, data collection, approval of automated external defibrillator training programs and a schedule of automated external defibrillator program registration fees;

L. adoption of rules for the administration of an emergency medical services certification program for certified emergency medical services; and

M. promoting, developing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating risk reduction and injury prevention systems.

History: Laws 1983, ch. 190, § 4; 1993, ch. 161, § 3; 1999, ch. 94, § 8; 2003, ch. 243, § 3.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, rewrote the section.

The 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, substituted "public regulation commission" for "state corporation commission" in Subsection B; added Subsection M; and made related stylistic changes.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "the emergency medical services system" for "emergency medical services" and deleted "but not limited to" from the end in the introductory language; substituted "or interfacility care" for "or hospital to hospital care" in Subsection A; inserted "state corporation" in Subsection B; inserted "development of requirements for the" and substituted "providers" for "emergency medical services" in Subsection C; rewrote Subsection D; rewrote former Subsection E as present Subsection F; deleted former Subsection F, relating to the adoption of guidelines for the survey and elective designation of medical facilities according to critical care categories; and added present Subsections E and G through L.