Bill Text: IL HB3186 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Amends the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act. Provides that in prescribing EMT licensure testing requirements for honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the United States, the Department of Public Health shall ensure that a candidate's military emergency medical training, emergency medical curriculum completed, and clinical experience are recognized. Provides that if an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P has been actively involved in serving as an EMT in a rural area on a volunteer or paid-on-call basis, or a combination of volunteer and paid-on-call, during the period since he or she was licensed or last relicensed (whichever occurred later), the Department of Public Health shall deem that service as satisfying 50% of the number of hours of continuing education otherwise required for relicensure.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2013-07-08 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0053 [HB3186 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB3186-Chaptered.html

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Public Act 098-0053
HB3186 Enrolled LRB098 10920 DRJ 41464 b
AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act
is amended by changing Section 3.50 as follows:
(210 ILCS 50/3.50)
Sec. 3.50. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Licensure.
(a) "Emergency Medical Technician-Basic" or "EMT-B" means
a person who has successfully completed a course of instruction
in basic life support as prescribed by the Department, is
currently licensed by the Department in accordance with
standards prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, and practices within an EMS
System.
(b) "Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate" or "EMT-I"
means a person who has successfully completed a course of
instruction in intermediate life support as prescribed by the
Department, is currently licensed by the Department in
accordance with standards prescribed by this Act and rules
adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act, and practices
within an Intermediate or Advanced Life Support EMS System.
(c) "Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic" or "EMT-P"
means a person who has successfully completed a course of

instruction in advanced life support care as prescribed by the
Department, is licensed by the Department in accordance with
standards prescribed by this Act and rules adopted by the
Department pursuant to this Act, and practices within an
Advanced Life Support EMS System.
(d) The Department shall have the authority and
responsibility to:
(1) Prescribe education and training requirements,
which includes training in the use of epinephrine, for all
levels of EMT, based on the respective national curricula
of the United States Department of Transportation and any
modifications to such curricula specified by the
Department through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(2) Prescribe licensure testing requirements for all
levels of EMT, which shall include a requirement that all
phases of instruction, training, and field experience be
completed before taking the EMT licensure examination.
Candidates may elect to take the National Registry of
Emergency Medical Technicians examination in lieu of the
Department's examination, but are responsible for making
their own arrangements for taking the National Registry
examination. In prescribing licensure testing requirements
for honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the
United States under this paragraph (2), the Department
shall ensure that a candidate's military emergency medical
training, emergency medical curriculum completed, and

clinical experience, as described in paragraph (2.5), are
recognized.
(2.5) Review applications for EMT licensure from
honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the
United States with military emergency medical training.
Applications shall be filed with the Department within one
year after military discharge and shall contain: (i) proof
of successful completion of military emergency medical
training; (ii) a detailed description of the emergency
medical curriculum completed; and (iii) a detailed
description of the applicant's clinical experience. The
Department may request additional and clarifying
information. The Department shall evaluate the
application, including the applicant's training and
experience, consistent with the standards set forth under
subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 3.10. If the
application clearly demonstrates that the training and
experience meets such standards, the Department shall
offer the applicant the opportunity to successfully
complete a Department-approved EMT examination for which
the applicant is qualified. Upon passage of an examination,
the Department shall issue a license, which shall be
subject to all provisions of this Act that are otherwise
applicable to the class of EMT license issued.
(3) License individuals as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P
who have met the Department's education, training and

examination requirements.
(4) Prescribe annual continuing education and
relicensure requirements for all levels of EMT.
(5) Relicense individuals as an EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P
every 4 years, based on their compliance with continuing
education and relicensure requirements. Every 4 years, an
EMT-P shall have 100 hours of approved continuing
education, an EMT-I and an advanced EMT shall have 80 hours
of approved continuing education, and EMT-B shall have 60
hours of approved continuing education. An Illinois
licensed Emergency Medical Technician whose license has
been expired for less than 36 months may apply for
reinstatement by the Department. Reinstatement shall
require that the applicant (i) submit satisfactory proof of
completion of continuing medical education and clinical
requirements to be prescribed by the Department in an
administrative rule; (ii) submit a positive recommendation
from an Illinois EMS Medical Director attesting to the
applicant's qualifications for retesting; and (iii) pass a
Department approved test for the level of EMT license
sought to be reinstated.
(6) Grant inactive status to any EMT who qualifies,
based on standards and procedures established by the
Department in rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
(7) Charge a fee for EMT examination, licensure, and
license renewal.

(8) Suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the
license of any licensee, after an opportunity for an
impartial hearing before a neutral administrative law
judge appointed by the Director, where the preponderance of
the evidence shows one or more of the following:
(A) The licensee has not met continuing education
or relicensure requirements as prescribed by the
Department;
(B) The licensee has failed to maintain
proficiency in the level of skills for which he or she
is licensed;
(C) The licensee, during the provision of medical
services, engaged in dishonorable, unethical, or
unprofessional conduct of a character likely to
deceive, defraud, or harm the public;
(D) The licensee has failed to maintain or has
violated standards of performance and conduct as
prescribed by the Department in rules adopted pursuant
to this Act or his or her EMS System's Program Plan;
(E) The licensee is physically impaired to the
extent that he or she cannot physically perform the
skills and functions for which he or she is licensed,
as verified by a physician, unless the person is on
inactive status pursuant to Department regulations;
(F) The licensee is mentally impaired to the extent
that he or she cannot exercise the appropriate

judgment, skill and safety for performing the
functions for which he or she is licensed, as verified
by a physician, unless the person is on inactive status
pursuant to Department regulations;
(G) The licensee has violated this Act or any rule
adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act; or
(H) The licensee has been convicted (or entered a
plea of guilty or nolo-contendere) by a court of
competent jurisdiction of a Class X, Class 1, or Class
2 felony in this State or an out-of-state equivalent
offense.
(9) An EMT who is a member of the Illinois National Guard
or an Illinois State Trooper or who exclusively serves as a
volunteer for units of local government with a population base
of less than 5,000 or as a volunteer for a not-for-profit
organization that serves a service area with a population base
of less than 5,000 may submit an application to the Department
for a waiver of the these fees described under paragraph (7) on
a form prescribed by the Department.
The education requirements prescribed by the Department
under this subsection must allow for the suspension of those
requirements in the case of a member of the armed services or
reserve forces of the United States or a member of the Illinois
National Guard who is on active duty pursuant to an executive
order of the President of the United States, an act of the
Congress of the United States, or an order of the Governor at

the time that the member would otherwise be required to fulfill
a particular education requirement. Such a person must fulfill
the education requirement within 6 months after his or her
release from active duty.
(e) In the event that any rule of the Department or an EMS
Medical Director that requires testing for drug use as a
condition for EMT licensure conflicts with or duplicates a
provision of a collective bargaining agreement that requires
testing for drug use, that rule shall not apply to any person
covered by the collective bargaining agreement.
(Source: P.A. 96-540, eff. 8-17-09; 96-1149, eff. 7-21-10;
96-1469, eff. 1-1-11; 97-333, eff. 8-12-11; 97-509, eff.
8-23-11; 97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 97-1014, eff. 1-1-13; revised
10-17-12.)