AB 2961: Emergency medical services.

Existing law creates the Commission on Emergency Medical Services, within the California Health and Human Services Agency, to, among other things, advise the Emergency Medical Services Authority on the development of an emergency medical data collection system. Existing law requires the Emergency Medical Services Authority to develop a statewide standard methodology for the calculation and reporting of ambulance patient offload time, as defined, by a local emergency medical services (EMS) agency. Existing law authorizes a county to develop an emergency medical services program, and authorizes a local EMS agency to adopt policies and procedures to calculate and report ambulance patient offload time.

This bill would require a local EMS agency to submit quarterly data to the authority that, among other things, is sufficient for the authority to calculate ambulance patient offload time by local EMS agency jurisdiction and by each facility in a local EMS agency jurisdiction. The bill would require the authority to calculate ambulance patient offload time and report it twice per year to the Commission on Emergency Medical Services. The bill would also require the authority, in collaboration with local EMS agencies, on or before December 1, 2020, to submit a report to the Legislature on ambulance patient offload time and recommendations to reduce or eliminate ambulance patient offload time.