§ 62-36. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Agency means any department, division, board, council, committee, authority or agency of the state or city or any of its political subdivisions.

Advanced life support ambulance means any publicly or privately owned vehicle equipped or used for transporting the wounded, injured, sick or dead by stretcher, including emergency and non-emergency vehicles used for that purpose, but not including funeral coaches used exclusively as such. Said vehicle shall provide space for, two EMTs, with at least one being a certified emergency medical technician-paramedic and a minimum of two litter patients positioned that at least one patient can be given intensive life support during transit. The vehicle must be permanently equipped, as part of its regular equipment, with the minimum essential equipment in appropriate sizes for treating infants, children and adults to include, but not limited to, the equipment as specified by the Region One Protocol Effort for Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard Parishes, including, to wit:

(1)

Portable, battery-operated monitor/biphasic defibrillator with 12 lead capability, recorder, monitor/cables, variable-size electrodes, and adult and pediatric paddles or pads.

(2)

Micro drip and Macro drip intravenous administration sets.

(3)

Intravenous catheters ranging from 14 to 24 gauge.

(4)

Laryngoscope with appropriate size straight and curved blades.

(5)

Endotracheal tubes sized 3.5, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0.

(6)

Stylettes for endotracheal tubes.

(7)

Magill forceps.

(8)

Portable oxygen.

(9)

Portable suction.

(10)

Resuscitation bag.

(11)

Blood pressure cuffs.

(12)

Associated oropharngeal airways, and nasopharyngeal airways.

(13)

Long spine boards.

(14)

All medications listed in the Region One Protocol Effort.

(15)

Intraosseous vascular access, adult and pediatric.

(16)

SpO2 monitoring.

(17)

Trancutaneous pacing.

(18)

Ability to provide induced hypothermia for cardiac arrests.

Basic life support ambulance or BLS ambulance is defined as an ambulance staffed with two EMT-basics which provides the basic level of care provided by emergency medical technicians. The basic level of care provided by emergency medical technicians includes basic airway management, care of choking victims, oxygen administration, hemorrhage control, splinting fractures and immobilization of spinal injuries. Basic life support (BLS) generally does not include the use of drugs or invasive skills, but all care on a BLS ambulance must adhere to the guidelines of the Region One Protocol Effort.

Certified emergency medical technician-basic or EMT-B, EMT-basic, EMT refers to any person who has successfully completed a basic emergency medical technician training course approved by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, and is currently certified by the State of Louisiana, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and holds a valid Orleans Parish Permit.

Certified emergency medical technician-intermediate or EMT-I, EMT-intermediate, advanced EMT refers to any person who has successfully completed an emergency medical technician intermediate course approved by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, and is currently certified by the State of Louisiana, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and holds a valid Orleans Parish Permit.

Certified emergency medical technician-paramedic or EMT-P, EMT-paramedic, or paramedic refers to any person who has successfully completed an emergency medical technician paramedic course approved by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, and is currently certified by the State of Louisiana, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians and holds a valid Orleans Parish Permit. The emergency medical technician-paramedic shall render emergency medical care within the scope of practice specified in R.S. 40:1234 and governed by ROPE.

Specialty care transport shall mean an interfacility transfer of a critically ill or injured patient that requires specialized treatment interventions, monitoring and/or staffing with specially trained personnel, including at a minimum an appropriately trained paramedic or higher practitioner.

New Orleans EMS or NOEMS shall mean New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, the department charged with providing prehospital emergency medical care and emergent ambulance transport for the City of New Orleans.

Emergency patient shall mean an individual who is ill, injured, or otherwise incapacitated and is at risk of needing time urgent treatment and or life sustaining treatment or care during transportation by stretcher to or from a health care facility.

Emergency medical technician or EMT shall mean any EMT-B, -I or -P.

Essential information shall include location of the patient, any requested directions to the location, callback number, and chief complaint or nature of problem or if the initial location information is obtained from a 911-data base, confirmation that the patient's location is the same as that of the caller or confirmation of the patient's actual location.

Event organizer means the individual or entity responsible for planning, financing or sponsoring any private community event or event on public property

Inspection means the annual review of the medical transportation service for the purpose of rendering licenses, permits, and/or certificates to operate such services within the city. This shall mean review of all requested records, physical review of all vehicles and equipment to ascertain their existence and functional use. Inspection will be performed within 60 days of application submittal. Nothing in this definition is meant to waive any legal privilege that a party may have or the production of any information not in compliance with federal or state privacy laws, rules or regulations.

Medical director is a physician licensed to practice medicine by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

Non-emergency means all medical care and transportation which is not emergent in nature.

Orleans Parish Communications District or OPCD means the Communications District of Orleans Parish, created by and charged with the duties set aside in R.S. 33:9101, to maintain and operate the emergency communications systems for public safety within the parish and thereby City of New Orleans.

Owner or operator means any person or entity which owns, controls, or operates an ambulance for purposes of providing both emergency and non-emergency medical care and transportation.

Patient means any individual who is sick, injured, wounded, or otherwise incapacitated or helpless, or a pregnant woman.

Permit means any authorization issued pursuant to this article for a vehicle operated as a medical transportation vehicle that meets standards approved by the director.

Person includes any person, firm, partnership, association, company or organization of any kind.

Private community event means any event on privately owned or leased property where an owner or operator is providing standby services

Private provider means any nongovernmental organization, corporation, entity or person which owns, controls, or operates an ambulance for purposes of providing both emergency and non-emergency medical care and transportation.

Professional medical contract is an agreement or contract for the recurring provision of professional medical care, treatment or transport of sick or injured persons from a facility or series of events. Professional medical contracts are not the same as standby services. The limitations on the provision of emergency services or 911 services are not applicable to professional medical contracts. Private providers who have entered into valid professional medical contracts may provide emergency transports in accordance with such contracts without prior authorization of New Orleans EMS. Professional medical contract does not create an exception to paragraph (a), section [62-99] "Review of rates and financial information" specific to Medicare rate compliance. Rates must be compliant with prevailing Medicare allowable rates in the year the contract was executed.

Public need and necessity shall mean that there exists a current and permanent need for additional ambulance service in the City of New Orleans and that the existing ambulance operators currently holding valid permits to operate within the city, after being notified by the City of New Orleans of a finding of such need, fails or refuses to provide the additional services determined necessary, within 60 days of such notification.

Region One Protocol Effort or ROPE shall refer to those medical protocols which have been developed and promulgated for use within Orleans and surrounding parishes. These protocols provide standard operating guidelines for pre-hospital treatment and care of patients. Any EMT certified to provide pre-hospital care must follow these protocols. The use of any other protocol for an EMS system, public or private, within the Parish of Orleans is strictly prohibited.

Reinspection means the revisit to a medical transportation service for the purpose of rendering licenses, permits or certificates to operate such services within the city. Reinspection will occur when the provider service has failed to meet all the expected criteria and/or provide the requested documentation for inspection. Reinspection will occur no later than 30 calendar days after initial inspection.

Rollover emergency shall refer to those overflow emergency calls received by private ambulance providers from the New Orleans EMS when it is determined that the New Orleans EMS does not have the resources available to handle the call in the manner necessitated by the emergent nature of the call.

Rollover emergency provider list shall be a list maintained by the New Orleans Health Department of those private ambulance providers permitted to operate in the City of New Orleans who make themselves available for rollover emergencies. This list shall include all licensed ambulance services in New Orleans and all agencies in Region One that are 911 providers as of August 1, 2012, who have continued to maintain and comply with the provisions of this chapter where applicable.

Rollover non-emergency means any call referred to a private provider by New Orleans EMS upon a determination made at the scene by the New Orleans EMS that the call is of a non-emergent nature. Such calls may be handled by BLS equipped ambulances.

Special response unit shall mean any specialty emergency vehicle or specialty emergency response unit designed to be a mobile and mechanically or human powered transportation device, other than ambulances, full sized vehicles or helicopters and air planes, and shall include, medical carts, golf cart ambulances, alternative support apparatus (ASAP), bike teams, rescue boats, and any other units which are used to respond to medical emergencies. Such units shall have fully visual and audible warning signals when the primary purpose of which is to respond to the scene of a medical emergency to provide emergency medical stabilization, transport of patients, or support, command, control, and communications.

Sprint unit means any emergency vehicle with fully visual and audible warning signals operated by a certified ambulance service, the primary purpose of which is to respond to the scene of a medical emergency to provide emergency medical stabilization or support, or command, control, and communications, but which is not an ambulance designed or intended for the transport of a patient.

Scheduled transport shall mean a non-emergency transport of a patient to or from a facility arranged by the patient, the facility or a patient representative.

Standby services shall be those services that are offered on a non-recurring basis to governmental or private organizations, individuals, entities or corporations for medical coverage, patient transportation, or treatment of sick or injured persons.

Volunteer ambulance service means any ambulance service comprised entirely of unpaid, unremunerated emergency medical technicians, and which does not charge patients for treatment, transport or a service rendered, and which holds, or whose parent organization holds, current status as a tax-exempt organization and is registered as such with the Internal Revenue Service and the Louisiana Secretary of State.

(M.C.S., Ord. No. 25023, § 1, 9-20-12)