SI No. 575 of 2004 Pre Hospital Emergency Care Council (Amendment) Order 2004
Source: Iris Oifigiúl 2004-09-29

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paragraphs: This Order may be cited as the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order, 2000 (Amendment) Order, 2004.
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paragraphs: In this Order “the Establishment Order” means the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order, 2000 ( S.I. No. 109 of 2000 ).
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paragraphs: (1) A reference in this Order to an Article shall be construed as a reference to an Article appearing in this Order unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended.
(2) A reference in this Order to a sub-article shall be construed as a reference to a sub-article of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended.
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paragraphs: Article 2 of the Establishment Order is hereby amended—
(a) by the substitution for the definition of “health board” of the following:—
“ ‘health board’ means—
— a board established under Section 4 of the Health Act, 1970 .
— the Eastern Regional Health Authority established under Section 7 of the Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act, 1999 .”
(b) by the substitution for the definition of “recognised institution” of the following:—
“ ‘recognised institution’ means an institution recognised by the Council under Article 4(a) of this Order.”
(c) by the substitution for the definition of “emergency medical technician” of the following:—
“ ‘emergency medical technician’ means a person who holds the N.Q.E.M.T. at the level of competence of emergency medical technician and whose name appears within the emergency medical technician division of the register.”
(d) by the substitution for the definition of “N.Q.E.M.T.” of the following:—
“ ‘N.Q.E.M.T.’ means the National Qualification in Emergency Medical Technology at the level of competence of emergency medical technician, paramedic or advanced paramedic as the case may be, awarded by the Council under Article 4(c) or 4(d) of this Order and “national qualification” shall be construed accordingly.”
(e) by the addition to Article 2 of the following:—
“ ‘pre-hospital emergency care practitioner’ means a person who holds the N.Q.E.M.T. at any of the levels of competence and whose name appears within any division of the register.”
“ ‘the register’ means the register established under Article 4(s) of this Order.”
“ ‘pre-hospital emergency care service provider’ means a body corporate or an un-incorporated body of persons on whose behalf a pre-hospital emergency care practitioner, whether as a volunteer, contractor or employee, provides pre-hospital emergency care.”
“ ‘paramedic’ means a person who holds the N.Q.E.M.T. at the level of competence of paramedic and whose name appears within the paramedic division of the register.”
“ ‘advanced paramedic’ means a person who holds the N.Q.E.M.T. at the level of competence of advanced paramedic and whose name appears within the advanced paramedic division of the register.”
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paragraphs: Article 4 of the Establishment Order is hereby amended—
(a) by the substitution for sub-article (a) of the following sub-article:—
“(a) recognise, in accordance with rules made by the Council, institutions providing education and training to persons pursuing the award of the N.Q.E.M.T. at the level of competence of emergency medical technician, paramedic or advanced paramedic, as the case may be.”
(b) by the substitution for sub-article (b) of the following sub-article:—
“(b) conduct examinations leading to the award of the N.Q.E.M.T. at the level of competence of emergency medical technician, paramedic or advanced paramedic, as the case may be.”
(c) by the substitution for sub-article (c) of the following sub-article:—
“(c) award the N.Q.E.M.T. to such persons as have completed a recognised course under sub-article (h)(i) in a recognised institution and have passed the relevant examination conducted by the Council pursuant to sub-article (b) of this Article.”
(d) by the substitution for sub-article (d) of the following sub-article:—
“(d) upon request, assess the equivalence of professional qualifications in pre-hospital emergency care obtained from institutions other than recognised institutions, both within and outside the State, and award the N.Q.E.M.T. as appropriate at the level of competence determined by the Council.”
(e) by the substitution for sub-article (f) of the following sub-article:—
“(f) advise the Minister, recognised institutions and such other persons as it may consider appropriate of the standards which should inform education and training in relation to pre-hospital emergency care.”
(f) by the substitution for sub-article (h) of the following sub-article:—
“ (h)(i) in consultation with recognised institutions providing education and training to persons pursuing the award of N.Q.E.M.T., approve of the content of courses for such education and training.
(ii) in consultation with institutions providing, or proposing to provide at any time in the future, education and training in pre-hospital emergency care, approve of the content of courses for such education and training.”
(g) by the deletion of sub-article (k).
(h) by the substitution for sub-article (m) of the following sub-article:—
“(m) engage in research into pre-hospital emergency care, including emerging technology, education and training, the formulation of experimental curricula, and the evaluation of existing courses and assessment and examination procedures.”
(i) by the substitution for sub-article (o) of the following sub-article:—
“(o) prepare clinical practice guidelines for pre-hospital emergency care and make such guidelines abailable to pre-hospital emergency care service providers and such other persons as it may consider appropriate.”
(j) by the addition of the following sub-articles to Article 4:—
(q) prepare standards of operation for pre-hospital emergency care service providers to support best practice by pre-hospital emergency care practitioners.
(r) recognise, in accordance with rules made by the Council, those pre-hospital emergency care service providers which undertake to implement the clinical practice guidelines prepared pursuant to sub-article (o) of this Article.
(s) establish and maintain, in accordance with rules made by the Council, a register of pre-hospital emergency care practitioners (in this instrument referred to as the register) who are holders of the N.Q.E.M.T. at the level of competence of emergency medical technician, paramedic or advanced paramedic, as the case may be, which register shall be divided into three divisions which shall be known as the emergency medical technician division, the paramedic division and the advanced paramedic division.
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paragraphs: The Establishment Order is hereby amended by the addition of the following Article:—
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paragraphs: (1) The Council may establish a Fitness to Practise Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee), consisting of such persons (whether members or non-members of the Council) as may be appointed by the Council, to conduct inquiries into allegations of professional misconduct or unfitness (or both) to engage in the practice of pre-hospital emergency care on the part of persons whose names are entered on the register.
(2) Following the completion of such an inquiry, the Committee shall embody its findings in a report to the Council specifying therein the nature of the allegation, the evidence laid before it and its opinion as to the alleged professional misconduct or fitness to practise or both of the pre-hospital emergency care practitioner, as the case may be.
(3) The Council shall consider the report of the Committee and the Council may if a finding of professional misconduct or unfitness to practise has been made, do any or all of the following:
(i) determine that the pre-hospital emergency care practitioner should be advised, admonished or censured.
(ii) make its determination or the report of the Committee or both available to such persons as it may think appropriate.
GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Health and Children, this 29th day of September.
MICHEÃ?L MARTIN,
Minister for Health and Children.
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)
The effect of the Order is to amend the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order, 2000 which established the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council.