Pennsylvania Code › Title 28 - HEALTH AND SAFETY › Part VII - Emergency Medical Services › Subpart A - EMS System › Chapter 1027 - EMS AGENCIES › Subchapter B - EMS AGENCY SERVICES › Section 1027.41 - Special operations EMS services

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
Generally.
A special
					 operations EMS service provides EMS in austere environments that require
					 specialized knowledge, equipment or vehicles to access a patient or it
					 addresses patient care situations that differ from the routine situations that
					 can be handled by a QRS, ambulance service or squad service, or some
					 combination thereof. Depending upon the type of special operations EMS service
					 and the circumstances presented, a special operations EMS service may be able
					 to meet the EMS needs of the patient by itself, or may need to work with other
					 EMS services to meet the EMS needs of the patient.
(b)
Special provisions.
The
					 following apply to special operations EMS services:
(1) When providing EMS through a special
					 operations EMS service, an EMS provider's scope of practice is expanded to
					 include EMS skills and the use of equipment in addition to those included in
					 the EMS provider's general scope of practice if the EMS provider has received
					 education to perform those skills and use that equipment by having successfully
					 completed a course approved by the Department for that type of special
					 operations EMS service. The EMS provider is required to be able to document
					 having received that education and to demonstrate competency in the performance
					 of those skills and use of that equipment to the EMS agency medical director.
					 Performance of those skills and use of that equipment by that level of EMS
					 provider will be authorized by the Department as published in a notice in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
. An EMS provider shall perform these
					 skills as directed by the Statewide EMS protocols applicable to that type of
					 special operations EMS service or as otherwise directed by a medical command
					 physician.
(2) Notwithstanding
					 §
												1021.41(a)
					 (relating to EMS patient care reports), when an EMS agency is providing EMS
					 exclusively through a special operations EMS service it shall document patient
					 encounters as follows:
(i) It shall document
					 every patient encounter on a log that includes the minimum information required
					 by the Department as published in a notice in the
Pennsylvania
					 Bulletin
pertaining to EMS PCR form elements, including documentation
					 required by the Statewide EMS protocols for any patient refusing
					 treatment.
(ii) For any patient
					 transported by ambulance from a special operations EMS incident, it shall
					 complete a written transfer of care form that contains the patient information
					 that is essential for immediate transmission for patient care required under
					 §
													1021.41(c), and
					 provide it to the EMS provider on the ambulance who accepts responsibility for
					 the patient.
(iii) For any patient
					 transported by ambulance from a special operations EMS incident who receives
					 EMS from the special operations EMS service exceeding the scope of practice of
					 an EMT, it shall complete an EMS PCR and otherwise comply with §
					 1021.41.
(iv) For any patient not
					 transported by ambulance who refuses EMS or dies while under the care of a
					 special operations EMS service, the special operations EMS service shall
					 complete an EMS PCR and otherwise comply with §
					 1021.41.
(3)
					 Notwithstanding §
												1027.31(8) 
					 (relating to general standards for providing EMS), when an EMS provider at or
					 above the AEMT level is responding as part of a special operations EMS service
					 in a vehicle other than an EMS vehicle, the EMS provider may transport in that
					 vehicle EMS equipment and supplies that an EMT is not authorized to use,
					 provided the EMS agency has adopted policies approved by its EMS agency medical
					 director to ensure the proper storage and security of the equipment and
					 medications, and the EMS provider abides by those policies.
(4) To facilitate the ability of EMS
					 providers to access and move patients, a special operations EMS service may use
					 modes of transportation at the special operations EMS incident site, such as a
					 bike, golf cart or other motorized vehicle, to transport EMS providers and
					 patients.