84R3205 JSC-D
	By: Bell	H.B. No. 479

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to transfer of the regional emergency medical dispatch
	resource centers program to the Commission on State Emergency
	Communications.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 771.102(a) and (c), Health and Safety
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The commission [center], with the assistance of the
	advisory council appointed under Section 773.012, shall administer
	the program in which [establish a program to use] emergency medical
	dispatchers located in regional emergency medical dispatch
	resource centers are used to provide life-saving and other
	emergency medical instructions to persons who need guidance while
	awaiting the arrival of emergency medical personnel.  The purpose
	of a regional emergency medical dispatch resource center is not to
	dispatch personnel or equipment resources but to serve as a
	resource to provide pre-arrival instructions that may be accessed
	by selected public safety answering points that are not adequately
	staffed or funded to provide those services.
	(c)  The commission [center], with the assistance of the
	advisory council, shall:
	(1)  design criteria and protocols and provide
	oversight as needed to conduct the program;
	(2)  collect the necessary data to evaluate the
	program; and
	(3)  report its findings to the legislature.
	SECTION 2.  Sections 771.103, 771.104, and 771.105, Health
	and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 771.103.  PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAM. (a) The
	commission [center] shall determine which public safety answering
	points are interested in participating in the program.
	(b)  Participating public safety answering points must agree
	to participate in any required training and to provide regular
	reports required by the commission [center] for the program.
	Sec. 771.104.  SELECTION OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS AND
	REGIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH RESOURCE CENTERS. (a) The
	commission [center], with the assistance of the advisory council,
	may select public safety answering points to participate in the
	program or to serve as regional emergency medical dispatch resource
	centers.  A public safety answering point may participate in the
	program and serve as a regional emergency medical dispatch resource
	center.  A public safety answering point selected for the program or
	to serve as a resource center must:
	(1)  have a fully functional quality assurance program
	that measures each emergency medical dispatcher's compliance with
	the medical protocol;
	(2)  have dispatch personnel who meet the requirements
	for emergency medical dispatcher certification or the equivalent as
	determined by the Department of State Health Services;
	(3)  use emergency medical dispatch protocols approved
	by a physician medical director knowledgeable in emergency medical
	dispatch;
	(4)  have sufficient experience in providing
	pre-arrival instructions; and
	(5)  have sufficient resources to handle the additional
	workload and responsibilities of the program.
	(b)  In selecting an existing public safety answering point
	to act as a resource center, the commission [center] shall consider
	a public safety answering point's ability to keep records and
	produce reports to measure the effectiveness of the program.  The
	commission [center] shall share information regarding a public
	safety answering point's abilities with the advisory council.
	Sec. 771.105.  CRITERIA FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH
	INTERVENTION. The commission [center], with the assistance of the
	advisory council, shall define criteria that establish the need for
	emergency medical dispatch intervention to be used by participating
	public safety answering points to determine which calls are to be
	transferred to the regional emergency medical dispatch resource
	center for emergency medical dispatch intervention.
	SECTION 3.  Sections 771.106(a), (b), and (d), Health and
	Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  State [Money in the 9-1-1 services fee fund and other
	state] funds may be appropriated to [The University of Texas
	Medical Branch at Galveston on behalf of] the commission [center]
	to fund the program.
	(b)  The commission may [University of Texas Medical Branch
	at Galveston on behalf of the center and the center are also
	authorized to] seek grant funding for the program.
	(d)  The provisions in this subchapter that require the
	commission [center] to [establish,] conduct[,] and evaluate the
	program are contingent on the commission [center] receiving funding
	in accordance with this section.  If a sufficient number of
	political subdivisions in a region that could be served by a program
	offer to pay the commission [center] an amount that in the
	aggregate, together with any other funding received under this
	section, is sufficient to fund the program for the region, [The
	University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, on behalf of] the
	commission [center]:
	(1)  shall enter into contracts with the offering
	political subdivisions under which each will pay an appropriate
	share of the cost; and
	(2)  when the amount under the signed contracts,
	together with any other funding received under this section, is
	sufficient to fund the program for the region, shall implement the
	program for the region.
	SECTION 4.  Section 771.107, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 771.107.  REPORT TO LEGISLATURE.  The commission
	[center] shall biennially report its findings to the governor, the
	presiding officer of each house of the legislature, and the
	advisory council no later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year.
	SECTION 5.  Section 771.109(a), Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The commission [center] may appoint a program work group
	to assist the commission [center] in [developing,] implementing[,]
	and evaluating the program and preparing a report on the
	commission's [center's] findings.
	SECTION 6.  Sections 771.101 and 771.102(b), Health and
	Safety Code, are repealed.
	SECTION 7.  (a)  In this section:
	(1)  "Center" means the area health education center at
	The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston that meets the
	requirements of 42 U.S.C. Section 294a and has received federal
	funding as an area health education center.
	(2)  "Program" means the regional emergency medical
	dispatch resource centers program established under Subchapter E,
	Chapter 771, Health and Safety Code, as that subchapter existed
	before amendment by this Act.
	(b)  On the effective date of this Act, the administration of
	the program is transferred from the center to the Commission on
	State Emergency Communications and all unspent and unobligated
	funds appropriated by the legislature to The University of Texas
	Medical Branch at Galveston on behalf of the center to fund the
	program are transferred to the commission.
	(c)  The Commission on State Emergency Communications with
	the agreement of the center may accept the transfer of any records,
	employees, or real or personal property of the center relating to
	the operation of the program.
	SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.