A. Each ambulance service shall require its emergency medical care technicians and ambulance attendants as defined in section 36-2201, paragraph 6, subdivision (b) to transport a police dog that is injured in the line of duty, along with a police officer who is trained in dog handling, if available, or other police personnel who are medically trained, by a ground ambulance or another emergency medical services vehicle to a veterinary clinic or veterinary hospital equipped to provide emergency treatment to dogs, if all of the following apply:

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1. A person is not requiring emergency medical treatment or transport by the ground ambulance or other emergency medical services vehicle at that time.

2. The transport is not expected to take more than thirty minutes from the point of pickup to the veterinary clinic or veterinary hospital.

3. The ambulance service has at least one additional ground ambulance in service and available to respond to emergency calls.

4. The transport by a police officer in the police officer’s emergency vehicle is not deemed to be more safe and more expeditious than transport by a ground ambulance.

B. An ambulance service may authorize its emergency medical care technicians, if trained, to provide emergency treatment to a police dog that is injured in the line of duty.

C. Each ambulance service may develop written policies and procedures for all of the following:

1. Appropriate training of the ambulance service’s emergency medical care technician personnel to provide police dogs with basic level first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and lifesaving interventions, including administering naloxone, that are developed in consultation with a veterinarian who is licensed in this state.

2. Safe handling procedures for injured police dogs, including the use of a muzzle, and response coordination with a law enforcement agency member who is trained in handling police dogs, that are developed in consultation with a veterinarian who is licensed in this state and a law enforcement police dog handler or trainer.

3. Identification of local veterinary facilities that will provide emergency treatment of injured police dogs on short notice.

4. Proper and complete decontamination of stretchers, the patient compartment and all contaminated medical equipment after a police dog has been transported by a ground ambulance or other emergency medical services vehicle.

5. Sterilization of the interior of a ground ambulance or other emergency medical services vehicle, including complete sanitizing of all allergens and disinfection to a standard safe for human transport before the ground ambulance or other vehicle is returned to human service.

D. Emergency medical care technicians and any other personnel certified under this chapter who in the performance of their duties and in good faith render emergency first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, transportation or other emergency medical services to an injured police dog pursuant to this section are not personally liable as a result of rendering such aid or services.

E. An ambulance service that provides transport for an injured police dog pursuant to this section may bill the governmental entity that owns the police dog for the cost of the transport.

F. This section does not preclude a police officer who is trained in dog handling of an injured police dog from choosing to transport the injured police dog in the police officer’s own emergency vehicle.