title
ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 8.12, REPLACING SECTION 8.12.07 OF THE JONESBORO CODE OF ORDINANCES, KNOWN AS AMBULANCE SERVICE STANDARDS
body
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas that Section 8.12.07 of the Jonesboro Code of Ordinances, known as Ambulance Service Standards be repealed in its entirety and replaced with the following:
8.12.07 Ambulance Service Standards
SECTION 1: No person or firm shall furnish, operate, maintain, conduct, advertise or in any way engage in or profess to engage in the business of providing emergency or non-emergency transport of patients upon the streets and highways of the City of Jonesboro unless that person or firm shall provide a standard of service equal to or greater than the specific standards of paramedic as defined by the Rules and Regulations pertaining to Emergency Medical Services as promulgated by the Arkansas State Board of Health, Little Rock, Arkansas Act 435 of 1975. Each company must operate/maintain its business from a physical address within the City of Jonesboro.
SECTION 2: No person or firm shall furnish, operate, maintain, conduct, advertise or in any way engage in or profess to engage in the business of providing emergency or non-emergency transport of patients upon the streets and highways of the City of Jonesboro unless that person or firm shall provide a standard of service equal to those set out in the following guideline
(A)
(1) An ambulance service must operate Four (4) paramedic level ambulances between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (As defined by Arkansas Code Ann; 25-15-201by the Authority of Act. 435 of 1975). Each service must have sufficient staff on hand to operate Four (4) Paramedic level ambulances. This number would include units that are on Transports outside the City of Jonesboro.
(2) Any Stretcher Ambulance service must meet all criteria as set forth within this Ordinance as accepted by the City council for the City of Jonesboro, and follows the standards according to the Arkansas Department of Health Rules and Regulations under the Authority of Act 60 of 1999.
(B) An ambulance service must operate two (2) paramedic level ambulances between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., Monday through Friday, and 24 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, (As defined by Arkansas Code Ann; 25-15-201 by the authority of Act. 435 of 1975).
(C) Upon Annual Renewal of an Ambulance Service License, each Ambulance service will be required to submit a copy of the License Renewal (Issued by the EMS and Trauma Systems Division of the Arkansas Department of Health) to the Director of the E-911 Communications Center, within (30) Thirty days of the Inspection. If there is an unsatisfactory inspection of the Ambulance service during annual inspections, the inspections must be reported to the Director of the E-911 Communications Center within (24) Twenty-four hours, and an explanation will be required of how the deficiencies will be corrected.
(D) Upon Receiving any (written) Formal complaint from the EMS trauma Systems Division of the Arkansas Department of Health, against any Ambulance service, Paramedic or EMT of that Service, a copy of that complaint will be submitted to the Director of the E-911 Communications Center for the City of Jonesboro within (24) Twenty-four hours of receiving the complaint.
(E) Complaints received regarding patient care and/or response times regarding an Ambulance service, Paramedic, or EMT operating in the City of Jonesboro shall be reviewed by the Joint 911 Advisory Board in order to provide better service for the citizens of Craighead County, and the City of Jonesboro.
(F) The Joint 911 Board reserves the right to evaluate such complaints and determine a fair disciplinary basis for those variances, in order to correct those deficiencies. Such complaints may be handled in the following manner.
(1) A written warning indicating the shortcoming and the punishment if the actions continue.
(2) (30) Thirty day suspension from receiving calls from the E-911Communications Center.
(3) (60) Sixty day suspension from receiving calls from the E-911 Communications Center.
(4) (1) One year suspension from receiving calls from the E-911 Communications Center.
(5) In the event of ongoing problems with any Ambulance service doing business in the City of Jonesboro, the City reserves the right to skip levels One, Two, and Three and suspend said company for (1) year, as described in level 4.
(G) Any disciplinary actions ordered by the Joint 911 Board may be appealed to the board in writing within (10) Ten working days from receipt of said action.
(H) An ambulance service must furnish to the City, proof of $1,000,000 professional liability insurance coverage. To be forwarded to the Director of the E911 Center for the City of Jonesboro.
(I) An ambulance service must furnish to the City, proof of $1,000,000 liability insurance coverage for vehicles. To be forwarded to the Director of the E911 Center for the City of Jonesboro.
(J) An ambulance service providing services in an emergency capacity must be licensed by the ADOH at a paramedic level.
(K) An ambulance service providing services in an emergency capacity must employ personnel certified by the ADOH at a Paramedic, EMT-I, or EMT-A level of certification;
(L) An ambulance service must provide all City 911, fire, police, and other stand-by calls at no charge to the City. Normal and customary rates may be charged to any patient transported;
(M) An ambulance service must notify the E- 911 Communications Center within two (2) minutes of any 911 call received by them from the Comm Center, in the event such ambulance service is unable to respond to said call.
(N) An ambulance service must have on-hand extrication equipment: Jaws of Life, Cutter, Spreader, and other extrication equipment, as directed by 911 policy, and compatible with the City's extrication equipment.
(O) Any Ambulance service wishing to be on the rotation list for the City of Jonesboro will purchase and maintain a AVL (Automatic Vehicle Locator) system on their Ambulance units. Said system will be such that it is monitored by E-911 Communications personnel and must be compatible with the Cities AVL system.
(P) A representative from the Jonesboro Police Department will have the authority to inspect all ambulances companies doing business within the City of Jonesboro. The purpose for the local inspections will be to insure that all companies are fulfilling their obligations by maintaining the minimum level of Paramedic ambulances as defined in Section 2-A and B.
SECTION 3: The City Council for the City of Jonesboro upon passage of this ordinance agrees that two Ambulance companies will be allowed to provide Emergency Medical Services in the City of Jonesboro, unless an Air ambulance service is required, or in the event of a mass disaster which mutual aid may be required.
SECTION 4: In the event that an ambulance service would discontinue providing emergency and non emergency services for the City of Jonesboro, a new EMS company would be allowed to operate in the city for a period of one year prior to being added to the E911 rotation list with the 911 Communication Center. Said service must request and be approved to do business in the City of Jonesboro from the City Council.
SECTION 5: The City of Jonesboro being classified as a First Class city reserves the right under Arkansas Code 14-266-102 as amended with Act 196 of 1989 to implement the above listed rules and regulations that are equal to, or greater than the minimum standards, established by the state of Arkansas.
SECTION 6: The City Council for the City of Jonesboro finds that an emergency exists and this Ordinance being necessary for the preservation of the public health, welfare and safety, it shall take effect from and after its passage and approval.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 6th day of July, 2004.