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H. B. No. 166 As IntroducedAs Introduced
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Murray, Carey, Garland, Clyde
A BILL
To amend sections 4765.30 and 4765.55 of the Revised
Code to require the State Board of Emergency
Medical Services to notify EMS and firefighter
personnel in writing when their certifications are
due for renewal.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4765.30 and 4765.55 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 4765.30. (A)(1) The state board of emergency medical
services shall issue a certificate to practice as a first
responder to an applicant who meets all of the following
conditions:
(a) Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, is
a volunteer for a nonprofit emergency medical service organization
or a nonprofit fire department;
(b) Holds the appropriate certificate of completion issued in
accordance with section 4765.24 of the Revised Code;
(c) Passes the appropriate examination conducted under
section 4765.29 of the Revised Code;
(d) Is not in violation of any provision of this chapter or
the rules adopted under it;
(e) Meets any other certification requirements established in
rules adopted under section 4765.11 of the Revised Code.
(2) The board may waive the requirement to be a volunteer for
a nonprofit entity if the applicant meets other requirements
established in rules adopted under division (B)(3) of section
4765.11 of the Revised Code relative to a person's eligibility to
practice as a first responder.
(B) The state board of emergency medical services shall issue
a certificate to practice as an emergency medical technician-basic
to an applicant who meets all of the following conditions:
(1) Holds a certificate of completion in emergency medical
services training-basic issued in accordance with section 4765.24
of the Revised Code;
(2) Passes the examination for emergency medical
technicians-basic conducted under section 4765.29 of the Revised
Code;
(3) Is not in violation of any provision of this chapter or
the rules adopted under it;
(4) Meets any other certification requirements established in
rules adopted under section 4765.11 of the Revised Code.
(C) The state board of emergency medical services shall issue
a certificate to practice as an emergency medical
technician-intermediate or emergency medical technician-paramedic
to an applicant who meets all of the following conditions:
(1) Holds a certificate to practice as an emergency medical
technician-basic;
(2) Holds the appropriate certificate of completion issued in
accordance with section 4765.24 of the Revised Code;
(3) Passes the appropriate examination conducted under
section 4765.29 of the Revised Code;
(4) Is not in violation of any provision of this chapter or
the rules adopted under it;
(5) Meets any other certification requirements established in
rules adopted under section 4765.11 of the Revised Code.
(D) A certificate to practice shall have a certification
cycle established by the board and may be renewed by the board
pursuant to rules adopted under section 4765.11 of the Revised
Code. Not later than sixty days prior to the expiration date of an
individual's certificate to practice, the board shall notify the
individual of the scheduled expiration by mailing a written
notification to the individual at the individual's residence.
An application for renewal shall be accompanied by the
appropriate renewal fee established in rules adopted under section
4765.11 of the Revised Code, unless the board waives the fee on
determining pursuant to those rules that the applicant cannot
afford to pay the fee. Except as provided in division (B) of
section 4765.31 of the Revised Code, the application shall include
evidence of either of the following:
(1) That the applicant received a certificate of completion
from the appropriate emergency medical services continuing
education program pursuant to section 4765.24 of the Revised Code;
(2) That the applicant has successfully passed an examination
that demonstrates the competence to have a certificate renewed
without completing an emergency medical services continuing
education program. The board shall approve such examinations in
accordance with rules adopted under section 4765.11 of the Revised
Code.
(E) The board shall not require an applicant for renewal of a
certificate to practice to take an examination as a condition of
renewing the certificate. This division does not preclude the use
of examinations by operators of approved emergency medical
services continuing education programs as a condition for issuance
of a certificate of completion in emergency medical services
continuing education.
Sec. 4765.55. (A) The executive director of the state board
of emergency medical services, with the advice and counsel of the
firefighter and fire safety inspector training committee of the
state board of emergency medical services, shall assist in the
establishment and maintenance by any state agency, or any county,
township, city, village, school district, or educational service
center of a fire service training program for the training of all
persons in positions of any fire training certification level
approved by the executive director, including full-time paid
firefighters, part-time paid firefighters, volunteer firefighters,
and, fire safety inspectors in this state. The executive director,
with the advice and counsel of the committee, shall adopt rules to
regulate those firefighter and fire safety inspector training
programs, and other training programs approved by the executive
director. The rules may include, but need not be limited to,
training curriculum, certification examinations, training
schedules, minimum hours of instruction, attendance requirements,
required equipment and facilities, basic physical requirements,
and methods of training for all persons in positions of any fire
training certification level approved by the executive director,
including full-time paid firefighters, part-time paid
firefighters, volunteer firefighters, and fire safety inspectors.
The rules adopted to regulate training programs for volunteer
firefighters shall not require more than thirty-six hours of
training.
The executive director, with the advice and counsel of the
committee, shall provide for the classification and chartering of
fire service training programs in accordance with rules adopted
under division (B) of this section, and may take action against
any chartered training program or applicant, in accordance with
rules adopted under divisions (B)(4)(5) and (5)(6) of this
section, for failure to meet standards set by the adopted rules.
(B) The executive director, with the advice and counsel of
the firefighter and fire safety inspector training committee of
the state board of emergency medical services, shall adopt, and
may amend or rescind, rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code
that establish all of the following:
(1) Requirements for, and procedures for chartering, the
training programs regulated by this section;
(2) Requirements for, and requirements and procedures for
obtaining and renewing, an instructor certificate to teach the
training programs and continuing education classes regulated by
this section;
(3) Requirements for, and requirements and procedures for
obtaining and renewing, any of the fire training certificates
regulated by this section;
(4)(a) A requirement that the board mail written notification
to an individual at the individual's residence not later than
sixty days prior to the expiration date of the individual's fire
training certificate;
(b) A requirement that the board annually mail to the chief
of each fire department in the state, a list of fire training
certificate expiration dates for each individual providing
fire-fighting services in that department. As used in this
division, "fire department" has the meaning defined in section
146.01 of the Revised Code.
(5) Grounds and procedures for suspending, revoking,
restricting, or refusing to issue or renew any of the certificates
or charters regulated by this section, which grounds shall be
limited to one of the following:
(a) Failure to satisfy the education or training requirements
of this section;
(b) Conviction of a felony offense;
(c) Conviction of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;
(d) Conviction of a misdemeanor committed in the course of
practice;
(e) In the case of a chartered training program or applicant,
failure to meet standards set by the rules adopted under this
division.
(5)(6) Grounds and procedures for imposing and collecting
fines, not to exceed one thousand dollars, in relation to actions
taken under division (B)(4)(5) of this section against persons
holding certificates and charters regulated by this section, the
fines to be deposited into the trauma and emergency medical
services fund established under section 4513.263 of the Revised
Code;
(6)(7) Continuing education requirements for certificate
holders, including a requirement that credit shall be granted for
in-service training programs conducted by local entities;
(7)(8) Procedures for considering the granting of an
extension or exemption of fire service continuing education
requirements;
(8)(9) Certification cycles for which the certificates and
charters regulated by this section are valid.
(C) The executive director, with the advice and counsel of
the firefighter and fire safety inspector training committee of
the state board of emergency medical services, shall issue or
renew an instructor certificate to teach the training programs and
continuing education classes regulated by this section to any
applicant that the executive director determines meets the
qualifications established in rules adopted under division (B) of
this section, and may take disciplinary action against an
instructor certificate holder or applicant in accordance with
rules adopted under division (B) of this section. The executive
director, with the advice and counsel of the committee, shall
charter or renew the charter of any training program that the
executive director determines meets the qualifications established
in rules adopted under division (B) of this section, and may take
disciplinary action against the holder of a charter in accordance
with rules adopted under division (B) of this section.
(D) The executive director shall issue or renew a fire
training certificate for a firefighter, a fire safety inspector,
or another position of any fire training certification level
approved by the executive director, to any applicant that the
executive director determines meets the qualifications established
in rules adopted under division (B) of this section and may take
disciplinary actions against a certificate holder or applicant in
accordance with rules adopted under division (B) of this section.
(E) Certificates issued under this section shall be on a form
prescribed by the executive director, with the advice and counsel
of the firefighter and fire safety inspector training committee of
the state board of emergency medical services.
(F)(1) The executive director, with the advice and counsel of
the firefighter and fire safety inspector training committee of
the state board of emergency medical services, shall establish
criteria for evaluating the standards maintained by other states
and the branches of the United States military for firefighter,
fire safety inspector, and fire instructor training programs, and
other training programs recognized by the executive director, to
determine whether the standards are equivalent to those
established under this section and shall establish requirements
and procedures for issuing a certificate to each person who
presents proof to the executive director of having satisfactorily
completed a training program that meets those standards.
(2) The executive director, with the committee's advice and
counsel, shall adopt rules establishing requirements and
procedures for issuing a fire training certificate in lieu of
completing a chartered training program.
(G) Nothing in this section invalidates any other section of
the Revised Code relating to the fire training academy. Section
4765.11 of the Revised Code does not affect any powers and duties
granted to the executive director under this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 4765.30 and 4765.55 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. A volunteer firefighter whose fire training
certificate expired, who did not renew the certificate, and who
meets all of the following criteria is entitled to apply for and
obtain a fire training certificate in the same manner, and by
meeting the same requirements, as if the firefighter had applied
for renewal of the certificate before its expiration:
(1) The firefighter is a "volunteer firefighter" as defined
in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code;
(2) The firefighter received a certificate under former
section 3303.07 or section 4765.55 of the Revised Code;
(3) The firefighter was a duly appointed member of a fire
department; and
(4) The firefighter has provided to the Executive Director of
the State Board of Emergency Medical Services an affidavit stating
that the firefighter did not renew the firefighter's fire training
certificate because the firefighter was unaware of the requirement
to do so that was established by rule pursuant to Sub. H.B. 401 of
the 126th General Assembly.
This section expires six months after its effective date.
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