April 12, 2011

Committee Chair Monnes Anderson and Committee members,

RE: SB-213 - OPPOSED

If the purpose of keeping SB-213 alive is to “gut and stuff”, we asked that you give notice to our
association so EMTs across Oregon can be actively involved with the new bill. Most EMTs are
volunteers and have little time to watch legislative activity that close and depend on legislators
being willing to notify and work with us to improve Oregon EMS.

Our members were asked if they supported or opposed current SB-213. They replied with:

“Last I heard, this bill had no hope - I trust this is still true.” Rainier

“My vote no. Unless we are going to have a true “licenses” to practice medicine… I’m going to let
the ER doc make the decision to sit them in the waiting room.” Corvallis

“I think we need a change, but putting this on us will only increase our work load, liability, and
time not available for other calls.” McMinnville

“I think what we now have is the best, without making the EMT's job any more difficult than it is.
We have enough really to deal with than trying to find other means of transport for patients.
Especially those of us working in more rural areas outside of the big cities who have the options
and availability for having the alternate transportation.

“… what is the EMT and responding units to do in the meantime? Stay and wait until someone
else comes along to transport? “ Cascade Locks.

“This bill would create more of a problem than the "problem" it is supposedly trying to alleviate!”

“… some areas, such as ours, have no alternative transport: no taxis, no trains, no buses. So
what would we do then, ask a not-quite-critically ill person to hitchhike 65 miles to the nearest
hospital??”

“I want the right to err on the side of caution...in our rural area there are few other options for
transport. We do have a few people who don't truly need our service, but, oh well! We eat the
cost of those calls and move on. I personally do NOT support this bill.” East Umatilla County
Health District

“Even when family members are available to drive the person, it sometimes constitutes a serious
hazard to the motoring public to insist that a panicky relative drive someone to a hospital or
clinic.”

“Our frontier area has never, so far as I am aware, had an instance of being unable to transport a
seriously injured or ill patient because all ambulances were engaged with non-emergency
transports. As to misuse of the EMS system by those who want someone else to pay, we really
don't have much of a problem here.” Marcola

“If we were required to categorically refuse everyone who is defined as non-emergency it would
add a financial and legal burden to us, a further frustration and hindrance to our patients, and
would lessen the ability of our struggling nonprofit ambulance service to pay its own way.”

“As a career paramedic and past ambulance manager, I would not support this bill.” Toledo
“Unless we are going to have a true “licenses” to practice medicine… I’m going to let the ER doc
make the decision to sit them in the waiting room.” Corvallis

“This is a very bad idea indeed… I could see this opening up the door to cause us the need to
get mal practice insurance! and that is something first responders don’t need nor can they afford
it at our current industry pay scale. I vote NO” Manzanita

“ … we are taught not to do diagnose in the field, this to me says the state is relying on us to
determine if the caller is really sick or not and we just don’t have those capabilities in the back of
an ambulance.” Manzanita

“You may have forgotten "because..." : Lyons

1) EMTs are "closer to God" and know what is needed
2) will actually probably make patients feel better on the way to the hospital
3) realize there are people who are frightened, disparately lonely, or in need of someone who
cares.”
.
“Quick vote from me…I vote against SB-213. It’s a legal mess…in fact it’s probably NOT legal
and would just get overturned. It would be interesting to see what would happen if it passed, but it
would probably lead to unnecessary deaths and legal liability for EMT’s. Nevertheless, this bill
evokes a strong gut response from working medics in favor…” Portland

“I having worked for both private and public ambulance services. I would say that the way this bill
is written, I WOULDN'T support it because there are cases when a patient have a broken
extremity(s) and need pain control enroute to the hospital. Not to mention extremity injuries are
distracting injuries and they could have underlying life threading injuries. I've seen quit a few life
threading injuries show themselves enroute to the ED. This is after the fire medicine has told me
that they have a isolated extremity injury. On the other hand, it would be great to send a person
with a paper cut on their finger, or NO medical needs POV.” Milwaukee

“Not only are there liability concerns, but there is an issue of customer service. If someone is
willing to private pay for an ambulance, they should be able to be served by one.” Rainier

“On the surface this seems like a good idea - but when one thinks about it more deeply, it is
obvious that we need different, total-systems fixes - and this isn't it. The best way to handle this
issue is multifaceted:
* First, fix the healthcare funding issue. (eg; universal healthcare, tort reform, et al)
* Next, continue to streamline and tweak the EMS delivery system to include community
healthcare, tiered response, and alternative (non-ALS) transport systems.
* Finally, better enable 9-1-1 dispatchers to triage call and give them the tools (online
healthcare advice, paid, non-ALS transportation, etc)”

Again, if the purpose of keeping SB-213 alive is to “gut and stuff”, we asked that you give notice
to our association so EMTs across Oregon can be actively involved with whatever the new bill
proposes. Most EMTs, volunteers and paid staff, want to be involved with their profession. But,
few have time to watch legislative activity on a daily basis.

We depend on YOU, the members of the Committee, to be willing to work with us, the people
delivering EMS care at the street level, to improve Oregon EMS.

Sincerely,
Gary M. McLean, RN, EMT-P
President, OEMSA
Office: 503-318-0108