2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 111c - Emergency Medical Services System › Section 4 - Regional Ems Councils; Duties; Membership

Section 4. (a) Regional EMS councils shall assist and support the department in carrying out the provisions of this chapter and in developing and implementing the state and regional EMS plans, by planning, guiding and coordinating the components of the EMS system serving their regions.
(b) The department shall designate one regional EMS council in each region of the state and may deny, revoke, refuse to renew or suspend such designation for good cause shown. Each regional EMS council shall consist of, but shall not be limited to, at least ten persons, one of whom shall represent local government, one of whom shall be designated by a hospital, one of whom shall be designated by a fire suppression service, one of whom shall be designated by a law enforcement agency, one of whom shall be designated by a primary ambulance service, one of whom is a licensed physician with regular and frequent involvement in the provision of emergency care, one of whom shall be a nurse involved in emergency medical care, one of whom shall be an emergency medical technician, one of whom shall be a consumer and one of whom shall be designated by an EMS first response service. No regional EMS council shall consist of more than 35 members. Each regional EMS council shall plan, implement and evaluate the EMS system in its region in accordance with the provisions of its contract with the department, this chapter and the regulations, guidelines and policies of the department. Each regional EMS council designated by the department as of May 1, 1994 shall be designated by the department as such, subject to such reasonable conditions, consistent with this chapter and regulations promulgated hereunder, as the department may impose.
(c) Each regional EMS council shall:
(1) assist the department in establishing, coordinating, maintaining and improving the EMS system described in this chapter, including, without limitation, the statewide communication system described in paragraph (8) of section 2;
(2) assist the department in the collection and maintenance of data and information concerning the EMS system;
(3) prepare and carry out its regional EMS plan, the initial plan of which shall be completed no later than one year after the completion of the initial state emergency medical services plan, and updated at least once every three years or, if the state plan is updated more frequently, as frequently as the state plan is updated; each regional EMS plan shall be consistent with the state EMS plan, although it may reflect regional differences; each regional EMS system plan shall include, without limitation, a trauma plan consisting of, at a minimum, trauma point of entry guidelines and scene triage criteria;
(4) make reasonable effort to ensure the availability of training programs for EMS personnel under section 9;
(5) provide necessary and reasonable staff services and appropriate and convenient office facilities that can serve as a regional location for its planning, development, maintenance, coordination and evaluation functions;
(6) establish mechanisms to provide for input from local EMS providers, basic life support and advanced life support pre-hospital providers and hospital providers, cities and towns, and consumers in its decisions in a fair and equitable manner, including, without limitation, membership on its governing body;
(7) perform other related functions as may be reasonably established by the department.