Fiscal Summary

Increase State Revenue - Exceeds $108,000/FY19-20 and Subsequent Years/General Fund Increase Local Revenue - Exceeds $224,000/FY19-20 and Subsequent Years/Permissive Exceeds $144,000/FY20-21 and Subsequent Years/Permissive Increase Local Expenditures - Exceeds $224,000/FY19-20/Permissive Exceeds $144,000/FY20-21 and Subsequent Years/Permissive Other Fiscal Impact - TBR Institutions could realize a significant decrease in student enrollment in future years; however, the immediate fiscal impact to any one institution is considered not significant. Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-29-121, all health related boards are required to be self-supporting over a two-year period. The EMS Board had a deficit of $113,546 in FY16-17 and a deficit of $149,731 in FY17-18.

Bill Summary

Present law authorizes ambulance services to operate emergency medical technician (EMT) and advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT) training centers as part of a pilot project in Carter, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, and Washington counties. This bill removes the county restriction on the places that ambulance services may operate EMT/AEMT training centers.



ON APRIL 4, 2019, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 228, AS AMENDED.



AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill and the present law pilot project described above in the bill summary and establishes a limited pilot project for the purpose of determining the impact of EMT/AEMT training centers operated by ambulance services licensed in this state. Under this limited pilot project, a total of 15 training centers may be operated. The emergency medical services board will oversee the pilot project.



In order to be certified by the emergency medical services board under this amendment, a training program offered by an EMT/AEMT training center must follow the National EMS Scope of Practice Model for Emergency Medical Service Personnel as promulgated by the United States department of transportation, national highway traffic safety administration. This amendment authorizes ambulance services licensed in this state to establish an EMT/AEMT training program. The ambulance service must have an instructor coordinator approved by the division of emergency medical services who serves as the training coordinator or lead instructor for the ambulance service. This amendment requires the ambulance service to charge a special enrollment fee of $175 to each student to be paid directly to the division of emergency medical services to be allocated to the general fund.



This amendment specifies that a training program offered by an EMT/AEMT training center may not offer training to more than two classes of students per year, per type of class. Also, a training program offered by an EMT/AEMT training center may not have more than 10 total students per class. However, this amendment specifies that an ambulance service located in a county with a population of less than 50,000 may send students to another county for training, in which case the receiving training center may then have classes of no more than 20 students per class.



This amendment requires an ambulance service that operates an EMT/AEMT training center to document, for each student, the student name, the course the student takes, the date the course begins and is completed, and the exam score for each time the student takes the standard certification test. For each course taught, the ambulance service training center must also report the total number of students that started the course, the total number of students that completed the course, and the percentage of those who completed the course that passed the standard certification test on the first attempt. This documentation will be submitted to the emergency medical services board and to the chancellor of the Tennessee board of regents on a quarterly basis, beginning in the quarter that the first course offered by the training center is completed. This amendment requires the board to compile an annual report based on the documentation received from ambulance services operating an EMT/AEMT training center and to submit the annual report to the chairs of the health committee of the house of representatives and the health and welfare committee of the senate. This report must be submitted by June 30 of each year the pilot project is in operation.



ON MAY 1, 2019, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 228 FOR SENATE BILL 250, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 228, AS AMENDED.



AMENDMENT #2 adds a requirement that the emergency medical services board consider whether an EMT/AEMT training center exists in the relevant service area in which the pilot EMT/AEMT training center is seeking to be located when considering a pilot EMT/AEMT training center application.

