Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS:
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 803

Introduced by HONORABLE RESURRECCION MARRERO-ACOP, MD

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) was created by virtue of
Republic Act 6975 with the mission to prevent and suppress
destructive fires, investigate its causes, provide emergency medical
and rescue services, and enforce other fire related laws with active
involvement of the community.

The BFP is also responsible for the enforcement of the Fire Code
of the Philippines (PD 1185) and other related laws. To achieve this, it
shall establish at least one (1) fire station with adequate personnel,
firefighting facilities and equipment in every provincial capital, city and
municipality subject to standard rules and regulations as maybe
promulgated. As part of its function to provide emergency medical and
rescue services, it must ensure operational readiness of the EMS team
on duty.

According to the 2008 Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)
of the Fire Code of the Philippines, the scope of training for members
of fire brigades consist of training on fire suppression, rescue,
emergency medical services (EMS) and related emergency response'.
They shall also be instructed on the handling of available fire rescue
apparatus, equipment, devices and tools. The IRR, however, does not
impose any standard as to the type and quality of EMS and related
emergency response training. Even the issuance of the following
guidelines:

1) Department Order No. 92-288 dated 22 July 1992;

2) Memorandum Circular No. 2008-07 — Prescribing Policies and
Guidelines on BFP EMS Operations; and

3) Memorandum Circular No. 2008-011 — Amended Policies, Guidelines
and Protocols on BFP EMS Operations

" Implementing Rules and Regulations, Fire Code of the Philippines. 2008. Bureau of Fire Protection.


have failed to establish adequate standards for the entry-level fireman,
Fire Officer 1 (FO1), as Certified First Responders and/or Certified
Emergency Medical Technicians.

Since its inception in the 1970s, emergency medical services
(EMS) continues to evolve and mature. As is true of most new
professions, no “master plan” was conceived to guide its evolution
systematically at the outset. The stakeholders of EMS had no way to
predict the challenges that would face the profession in its rapid growth
period. The diversity of EMS providers (from paid, full-time personnel
to volunteers), system design (hospital-based to public safety-based),
and local variations of practice have presented unique challenges that
do not face other allied health care professions?.

In the United States, it took them almost thirty years to come up
with a national standard EMS curricula, accreditation standards, and
a national registration system, albeit, these individual parts developing
independently. Currently, there is no formal EMS education system in
which the components are clearly defined, their interrelationships
articulated, and the decision-making process for modification and
improvement established. The absence of a formal EMS education
system has also led to inconsistencies among the various curricula and
difficulties in the ability to bridge from one level of education to
another. Currently, there is no consistent method of providing input to
the national EMS education decision-making process®.

While aware of these challenges, this Representation nonetheless
believes that mandatory training to qualify our fire officers in EMS and
as Certified First Responders will go a long way in capacitating the BFP
in achieving its mission in the best possible way.

acon.

RESU! SCION MARRERO-ACOP, MD
Representative
2nd District, Antipolo City

2 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000. Emergency Medical Services education agenda for the future.
A systems approach, Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic
‘Administration (DOT/NHTSA), DOT HS, 809, p.042,

> Ibid.



Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. £03

Introduced by HONORABLE RESURRECCION MARRERO-ACOP, MD

AN ACT
REQUIRING PERSONNEL OF THE BUREAU OF FIRE PROTECTION TO
BE CERTIFIED FIRST RESPONDERS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9263, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE
"BUREAU OF FIRE PROTECTION AND BUREAU OF JAIL MANAGEMENT
AND PENOLOGY PROFESSIONALIZATION ACT OF 2014"

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9263, as amended, is hereby amended
by adding two new paragraphs to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. Organization and Key Positions of the BFP and BUMP. —

The BFP ... xxx

‘The heads of the BFP ... x x x

The BFP and the BUMP ...x xx

THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR SHALL DESIGNATE IN EVERY FIRE STATION,
AT LEAST ONE (1) UNIFORMED PERSONNEL PER SHIFT, REGARDLESS OF
RANK, TO ACT AS EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN WHO WILL SUPERVISE

FIRE OFFICERS IN RESPONDING TO MEDICAL EMERGENCIES.


AN EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN REFERS TO A TRAINED AND
CERTIFIED PRE-HOSPITAL EMERGENCY CARE PROVIDER WHO IS CAPABLE OF
PERFORMING EXTENSIVE PRE-HOSPITAL CARE, ENDOTRACHEAL
INTUBATIONS AND CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION ADMINISTERING
MEDICATIONS ORALLY AND INTRAVENOUSLY, AND USING AUTOVATED
EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR AND OTHER COMPLEX EMERGENCY MEDICAL

EQUIPMENT.

SECTION 2. Section 8 of the same Act, as amended, is hereby amended to read as
follows:

"SEC. 8. Professionalization and Qualifications Upgrading Program. -

The DILG shall design and establish a professionalization and qualifications

upgrading program for the uniformed personnel of the BFP and the BJMP in

coordination with the CSC and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)

through an off-campus education program or other similar programs within

ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act.

THE BFP AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (DOH) SHALL DESIGN
AND ESTABLISH A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL
TECHNICIANS AND OTHER RELEVANT TRAININGS THAT WILL BE

INTEGRATED INTO THE FIRE BASIC RECRUIT COURSE (FBRC).

UPON THEIR APPOINTMENT, THE NEWLY ABSORBED FIRE

OFFICER 1 (FO1) OF THE BFP MUST UNDERGO AND COMPLETE THE FIRE


BASIC RECRUIT COURSE (FBRC), WHICH SHALL PROVIDE THE
FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS NECESSARY TO MEET THE
MINIMUM STANDARDS OF FIRE PERSONNEL COMPETENCE, INCLUDING
ADVANCED FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONSE AND
EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN COURSES. THE COMPONENTS AND
COURSE DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRE BASIC RECRUIT COURSE SHALL BE
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INTERNAL RULES AND REGULATIONS ON
MANDATORY TRAINING, LOCAL SCHOOLING, SEMINAR, AND WORKSHOP
WHICH ARE ISSUED BY THE BFP. GRADUATES OF THE FIRE BASIC
RECRUIT COURSE SHALL BE ISSUED THE APPROPRIATE
CERTIFICATIONS AS MEDICAL FIRST RESPONDER AND EMERGENCY

MEDICAL TECHNICIAN, ACCORDINGLY.

UNIFORMED PERSONNEL WHO ARE ALREADY IN THE SERVICE AS.
OF DECEMBER 31, 2017 SHALL BE GIVEN FIVE (5) YEARS TO OBTAIN THE
MINIMUM CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT AS MEDICAL FIRST
RESPONDER: PROVIDED, THAT UNIFORMED BFP PERSONNEL WHO
HAVE RENDERED MORE THAN FIFTEEN (15) YEARS OF SERVICE AS OF
DECEMBER 31, 2017 SHALL NO LONGER BE REQUIRED TO COMPLY
WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED CERTIFICATION AS MEDICAL FIRST

RESPONDER OR AS EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN.

THE BFP PERSONNEL DESIGNATED AS FIRE STATION EMERGENCY
MEDICAL TECHNICIAN MUST POSSESS THE APPROPRIATE

CERTIFICATION AS EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN IN ADDITION TO


THEIR TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION AS MEDICAL FIRST RESPONDER.

SECTION 3. Should any part of this Act be declared unconstitutional or invalid,
the other parts or provisions hereof not affected thereby shall continue to be in full

force and effect.

SECTION 4. All laws, executive orders, presidential decrees, implementing rules
and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are

hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the

Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,