Senate Bill No. 433
(By Senators Anderson, Kessler, Fanning and Ross)
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[Introduced February 9, 2000; referred to the Committee on
Energy, Industry and Mining.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article ten, chapter
twenty-two-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to emergency
personnel in coal mines; and updating definitions and
certifications.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article ten, chapter twenty-two-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL.
§22A-10-1. Emergency personnel in coal mines.
(a) Emergency medical services personnel shall be employed
on each shift at every mine that: (1) Employs more than ten
employees; and (2) more than eight persons are present on the
shift Said emergency medical services personnel shall be and are
employed at their regular duties at a central location, or when
more than one such person is required pursuant to subsection (b)
of this section or (c) at locations, convenient from for quick
response to emergencies; and further shall have available to them
at all times such the equipment as shall be prescribed by the
director of the office of miners' health, safety and training, in
consultation with the commissioner of the bureau of public
health.
(b) After the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-five two thousand, emergency medical services personnel
shall be defined as a person who is certified as an emergency
medical technician-mining, emergency medical technician,
emergency medical technician-ambulance, emergency medical
technician-intermediate, mobile intensive care paramedic,
emergency medical technician-paramedic as defined in section
three, article four-c, chapter sixteen of this code, or physician
assistant as defined in section sixteen, article three, chapter thirty of this code means any person certified by the
commissioner of the bureau of public health or authorities
recognized and approved by the commissioner, to provide emergency
medical services as authorized in article four-c, chapter sixteen
of this code and including emergency medical technician-mining.
At least one emergency medical services personnel shall be
employed at a mine for every fifty employees or any part thereof
who are engaged at any time, in the extraction, production or
preparation of coal.
(c) A training course designed specifically for
certification of emergency medical technician-mining shall be
developed at the earliest practicable time by the commissioner of
the bureau of public health in consultation with the board of
miner training, education and certification. The training course
for initial certification as an emergency medical
technician-mining shall not be less than sixty hours, which shall
include, but is not limited to, mast trouser application, basic
life support skills and emergency room observation or other
equivalent practical exposure to emergencies as prescribed by the
commissioner of the bureau of public health.
(d) The maintenance of a valid emergency medical technician-mining certificate may be accomplished without taking
a three-year recertification examination: Provided,
That such
the emergency medical technician-mining personnel completes an
eight hour annual retraining and testing program prescribed by
the commissioner of the bureau of public health in consultation
with the board of miner training, education and certification.
(e) All emergency medical services personnel currently
certified as emergency medical service attendants or emergency
medical technicians shall receive certification as emergency
medical technicians without further training and examination for
the remainder of their three-year certification period; such
emergency medical service attendant or emergency medical
technician may upon expiration of such certification become
certified as an emergency medical technician-mining upon
completion of the eight hour retraining program referred to in
subsection (d) above.
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
adopt the definition
of "emergency medical service personnel" utilized by the office
of emergency medical services and to delete other outdated
certification references.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.)
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ENERGY, INDUSTRY AND MINING COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On pages one and two, by striking out all of subsection (a)
and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (a), to read as
follows:
(a) Emergency medical services personnel must be employed on
each shift at every mine that:
(1) Employs more than ten employees; and
(2) Has more than eight persons present on the shift.
The emergency medical services personnel must be employed at
their regular duties at a central location or, when more than one
person is required pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b)
of this section, at a location which provides for convenient,
quick response to emergencies. The emergency medical services
personnel must have available to them at all times the equipment
prescribed by the director of the office of miners' health,
safety and training, in consultation with the commissioner of the
bureau of public health.;
On page three, section one, line sixteen, by striking out
the words "mast trouser application,";
And,
On page one, by striking out the title and substituting
therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 433 --A Bill to amend and reenact
section one, article ten, chapter twenty-two-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
relating to emergency medical personnel; requiring emergency
medical personnel in coal mines; emergency medical technician-
mining certification; and modifying the definitions of emergency
medical services personnel.