Kan. Admin. Regs. § 109-1-1

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 49, December 5, 2024

Section 109-1-1 - Definitions

Each of the following terms, as used in the board's regulations, shall have the meaning specified in this regulation:

(a) "AEMT" means advanced emergency medical technician.

(b) "Advanced life support" and "ALS" mean the statutorily authorized activities and interventions that may be performed by an advanced emergency medical technician or paramedic.

(c) "Air ambulance" means a fixed-wing or rotor-wing aircraft that is specially designed, constructed or modified, maintained, and equipped to provide air medical transportation and emergency care of patients.

(d) "Air medical director" means a physician as defined by K.S.A. 65-6112, and amendments thereto, who meets the following requirements:

(1) Is trained and experienced in care consistent with the air ambulance service's mission statement; and

(2) is knowledgeable in altitude physiology and the complications that can arise due to air medical transport.

(e) "Air medical personnel" means the EMS providers listed on the EMS provider roster, health care personnel identified on the service health care personnel roster of the air ambulance service, specialty patient care providers specific to the mission, and the pilot or pilots necessary for the operation of the aircraft.

(f) "Airway maintenance," as used in K.S.A. 65-6121 and amendments thereto and as applied to the authorized activities of an advanced emergency medical technician, means the use of any invasive oral equipment and procedures necessary to ensure the adequacy and quality of ventilation and oxygenation.

(g) "Attendant" means EMS provider.

(h) "Basic life support" and "BLS" mean the statutorily authorized activities and interventions that may be performed by an emergency medical responder or emergency medical technician.

(i) "CAPCE" means the commission on accreditation for pre-hospital continuing education.

(j) "Certified mechanic," as used in K.A.R. 109-2-2, means an individual employed or contracted by the ambulance service, city or county, qualified to perform maintenance on licensed ambulances and inspect these vehicles and validate, by signature, that the vehicles meet both mechanical and safety considerations for use.

(k) "Class" means the period during which a group of students meets.

(l) "Coordination" means the submission of an application for approval of initial courses of instruction or continuing education courses and the oversight responsibility of those same courses and instructors once the courses are approved.

(m) "Course of instruction" means a body of prescribed EMS studies approved by the board.

(n) "Critical care transport" means the transport by an ambulance of a critically ill or injured patient who receives care commensurate with the care rendered by health care personnel as defined in this regulation or a paramedic with specialized training as approved by service protocols and the medical director.

(o) "Emergency" means a serious medical or traumatic situation or occurrence that demands immediate action.

(p) "Emergency call" means an immediate response by an ambulance service to a medical or trauma incident that happens unexpectedly.

(q) "Emergency care" means the services provided after the onset of a medical condition of sufficient severity that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to cause any of the following:

(1) Place the patient's health in serious jeopardy;

(2) seriously impair bodily functions; or

(3) result in serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

(r) "EMR" means emergency medical responder.

(s) "EMS" means emergency medical services.

(t) "EMS provider" means emergency medical service provider.

(u) "EMT" means emergency medical technician.

(v) "Ground ambulance" means a ground-based vehicle that is specially designed and equipped for emergency medical care and transport of sick and injured persons and meets the requirements in K.A.R. 109-2-8.

(w) "Health care personnel" and "health care provider," as used in the board's regulations, means a physician, physician assistant, licensed professional nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, or respiratory therapist.

(x) "Incompetence," as applied to EMS providers and as used in K.S.A. 65-6133 and amendments thereto, means a demonstrated lack of ability, knowledge, or fitness to perform patient care according to applicable medical protocols or as defined by the authorized activities of the EMS provider's level of certification.

(y) "Incompetence," as applied to an operator and as used in K.S.A. 65-6132 and amendments thereto, means either of the following:

(1) The operator's inability or failure to provide the level of service required for the type of permit held; or

(2) the failure of the operator or an agent or employee of the operator to comply with a statute or regulation pertaining to the operation of a licensed ambulance service.

(z) "Interoperable" means that one system has the ability to communicate or work with another.

(aa) "Lab assistant" means an individual who is assisting a primary instructor in the instruction and evaluation of students in classroom laboratory training sessions.

(bb) "Long-term provider approval" means that the sponsoring organization has been approved by the executive director to provide any continuing education program as prescribed in K.A.R. 109-5-3.

(cc) "Out of service," as used in K.A.R. 109-2-5, means that a licensed ambulance is not immediately available for use for patient care or transport.

(dd) "Primary instructor" means the person who is listed by the sponsoring organization as the individual responsible for the competent delivery of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective objectives of an approved initial course of instruction or continuing education program and who is the person primarily responsible for evaluating student performance and developing student competency.

(ee) "Prior-approved continuing education" means material submitted by a sponsoring organization, to the board, that is reviewed and subsequently approved by the executive director, in accordance with criteria established by regulations, and that is assigned a course identification number.

(ff) "Program manager" means an individual who has been appointed, employed, or designated by a sponsoring organization, as defined in K.S.A. 65-6112 and amendments thereto, to ensure that the sponsoring organization is in conformance with applicable regulations and to ensure that quality EMS education is provided by the sponsoring organization's qualified instructors.

(gg) "Public call" means the request for an ambulance to respond to the scene of a medical emergency or accident by an individual or agency other than any of the following:

(1) A ground ambulance service;

(2) the Kansas highway patrol or any law enforcement officer who is at the scene of an accident or medical emergency;

(3) a physician, as defined by K.S.A. 65-6112 and amendments thereto, who is at the scene of an accident or medical emergency; or

(4) an EMS provider who has been dispatched to provide emergency first response and who is at the scene of an accident or medical emergency.

(hh) "Quality management plan" means a written plan developed by a sponsoring organization that describes all processes utilized by the sponsoring organization to ensure that the EMS education provided meets the requirements of the community's EMS training needs assessment or meets the training needs of the intended audience. Each quality management plan shall, at a minimum, include a review and analysis by the medical director and program manager of each completed course and the instructor evaluations.

(ii) "Reinstatement" means the process by which a person may be issued a certificate at the same level of certification as that of an expired certificate.

(jj) "Retroactively approved continuing education" means credit issued to an EMS provider after attending a program workshop, conference, seminar, or other offering that is reviewed and subsequently approved by the executive director, in accordance with criteria established by the board.

(kk) "Service director" means an individual who has been appointed, employed, or designated by the operator of an ambulance service to handle daily operations and to ensure that the ambulance service is in conformance with local, state, and federal laws and ensure that quality patient care is provided by the ambulance service EMS providers.

(ll) "Service records" means the documents required to be maintained by state regulations and statutes pertaining to the operation and education within a licensed ambulance service.

(mm) "Single-program provider approval" means that the sponsoring organization has been granted approval to offer a specific continuing education program.

(nn) "Sufficient application" means that the information requested on the application form is provided in full, any applicable fee has been paid, all information required by statute or regulation has been submitted to the board, and no additional information is required to complete the processing of the application.

(oo) "Teach" means instruct or coordinate training, or both.

(pp) "Unprofessional conduct," as applied to EMS providers and as used in K.S.A. 65-6133 and amendments thereto, means conduct that violates those standards of professional behavior that through professional experience have become established by the consensus of the expert opinion of the members of the EMS profession as reasonably necessary for the protection of the public. This term shall include any of the following:

(1) Failing to take appropriate action to safeguard the patient;

(2) performing acts beyond the activities authorized for the level at which the individual is certified;

(3) falsifying a patient's or an ambulance service's records;

(4) verbally, sexually, or physically abusing a patient;

(5) violating statutes or regulations concerning the confidentiality of medical records or patient information obtained in the course of professional work;

(6) diverting drugs or any property belonging to a patient or an agency;

(7) making a false or misleading statement on an application for certification renewal or any agency record;

(8) engaging in any fraudulent or dishonest act that is related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of an EMS provider; or

(9) failing to cooperate with the board and its agents in the investigation of complaints or possible violations of the EMS statutes or board regulations, including failing to furnish any documents or information legally requested by the board. EMS providers who fail to respond to requests for documents or requests for information within 30 days from the date of request shall have the burden of demonstrating that they have acted in a timely manner.

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 109-1-1

Authorized by K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 65-6110 and K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 65-6111; implementing K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 65-6110, K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 65-6111, K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 65-6129, K.S.A. 65-6132, and K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 65-6133; effective May 1, 1985; amended May 1, 1986; amended, T-88-12, May 18, 1987; amended, T-88-24, July 15, 1987; amended May 1, 1988; amended July 17, 1989; amended March 16, 1992; amended Jan. 31, 1994; amended Jan. 30, 1995; amended Jan. 31, 1997; amended Nov. 12, 1999; amended Jan. 27, 2012; amended March 15, 2013; amended April 29, 2016; amended Dec. 29, 2017; amended Dec. 31, 2021; amended by Kansas Register Volume 42, No. 45; effective 11/24/2023.