A. The secretary shall appoint a statewide emergency medical services advisory committee to advise the bureau in carrying out the provisions of the Emergency Medical Services Act. The advisory committee shall include, at a minimum, representatives from the state medical society, the state emergency medical technicians' association, the state firefighters' association, the New Mexico ambulance association, the state nurses' association, the association of public safety communications organization/national emergency numbers association, the lead state agency for public safety and emergency preparedness, the state emergency services council, the New Mexico health and hospital systems association, the university of New Mexico health sciences center, the state fire chiefs' association, a consumer, emergency medical service regional offices and other interested provider and consumer groups as determined by the secretary. The advisory committee shall establish appropriate subcommittees, including a trauma advisory committee and an air transport advisory committee.

B. The joint organization on education committee shall be composed, at a minimum, of the director and medical director of the academy and each approved emergency medical services training program or their designee, the state emergency medical services medical director, the bureau chief or his designee, who shall serve without vote, each emergency medical services regional office training coordinator and one provider from the three highest levels of licensure, who are appointed by the secretary from a list proposed by the statewide emergency medical services advisory committee. The duties of the joint organization on education committee include:

(1) developing minimum curricula content for approved emergency medical services training programs;

(2) establishing minimum standards for approved emergency medical services training programs;

(3) reviewing and approving the applications of organizations seeking to become approved emergency medical services training programs; and

(4) developing minimum qualifications for and maintaining a list of instructors for each of the approved emergency medical services training programs.

C. The secretary shall appoint a medical direction committee to advise the bureau on matters relating to medical direction. The state emergency medical services medical director shall be a member of the committee and shall act as its chairman. The medical direction committee shall include, at a minimum, a physician representative experienced in pre-hospital medical care selected from a list proposed by the New Mexico chapter of the American college of emergency physicians, a physician representative from the academy, one physician from each of the emergency medical services geographic regions, one physician with pediatric emergency medicine expertise, one physician representing emergency medical dispatchers and one provider from the three highest levels of licensure. Members shall be selected to represent both public and private interests. The duties of the medical direction committee include:

(1) reviewing the medical appropriateness of all rules proposed by the bureau;

(2) reviewing and approving the applications of providers for special skills authorizations;

(3) assisting in the development of rules pertaining to medical direction; and

(4) reviewing at least annually a list of skills, techniques and medications approved for use at each level of licensure that shall be approved by the secretary and issued by the bureau.

D. The committees created in this section are subject to the provisions of the Per Diem and Mileage Act [10-8-1 to 10-8-8 NMSA 1978], to the extent that funds are available for that purpose.

E. Any decision that the bureau proposes to make contrary to the recommendation of any committee created in this section shall be communicated in writing to that committee. Upon the request of that committee, the decision shall be submitted for reconsideration to the director of the public health division of the department and subsequently to the secretary. Any decision made pursuant to a request for reconsideration shall be communicated in writing by the department to the appropriate committee.

History: Laws 1983, ch. 190, § 7; 1993, ch. 161, § 8; 2003, ch. 243, § 7.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, in Subsection A, inserted "at a minimum" following "advisory committee shall include"; in the second sentence, added the language following "state firefighters' association" and preceding "emergency medical service"; and added "as determined by the secretary" at the end of the sentence; and rewrote Subsections B and C.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, rewrote the catchline; designated the existing provisions as Subsection A; in Subsection A, substituted "The secretary shall appoint a statewide emergency medical services" for "Pursuant to Section 9-7-11 NMSA 1978, the secretary of health and environment shall appoint an" in the first sentence, substituted "firefighters'" for "firemen's" and "offices" for "planning bodies" in the second sentence, and added the last sentence; and added Subsections B through E.