(a) “Emergency Medical Dispatcher” means a person who has successfully completed a training course in emergency medical dispatching in accordance with rules adopted by the Department pursuant to this Act, who accepts calls from the public for emergency medical services and dispatches designated emergency medical services personnel and vehicles. The Emergency Medical Dispatcher must use the Department-approved emergency medical dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) protocol selected for use by its agency and approved by its EMS medical director. This protocol must be used by an emergency medical dispatcher in an emergency medical dispatch agency to dispatch aid to medical emergencies which includes systematized caller interrogation questions; systematized prearrival support instructions; and systematized coding protocols that match the dispatcher’s evaluation of the injury or illness severity with the vehicle response mode and vehicle response configuration and includes an appropriate training curriculum and testing process consistent with the specific EMDPRS protocol used by the emergency medical dispatch agency. Prearrival support instructions shall be provided in a non-discriminatory manner and shall be provided in accordance with the EMDPRS established by the EMS medical director of the EMS system in which the EMD operates. If the dispatcher operates under the authority of an Emergency Telephone System Board established under the Emergency Telephone System Act, the protocols shall be established by such Board in consultation with the EMS Medical Director.
     (b) The Department shall have the authority and responsibility to:
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         (1) Require licensure and relicensure of a person who
    
meets the training and other requirements as an emergency medical dispatcher pursuant to this Act.
        (2) Require licensure and relicensure of a person,
    
organization, or government agency that operates an emergency medical dispatch agency that meets the minimum standards prescribed by the Department for an emergency medical dispatch agency pursuant to this Act.
        (3) Prescribe minimum education and continuing
    
education requirements for the Emergency Medical Dispatcher, which meet standards specified by rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
        (4) Require each EMS Medical Director to report to
    
the Department whenever an action has taken place that may require the revocation or suspension of a license issued by the Department.
        (5) Require each EMD to provide prearrival
    
instructions in compliance with protocols selected and approved by the system’s EMS medical director and approved by the Department.
        (6) Require the Emergency Medical Dispatcher to keep
    
the Department currently informed as to the entity or agency that employs or supervises his activities as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher.
        (7) Establish an annual relicensure requirement that
    
requires medical dispatch-specific continuing education as prescribed by the Department through rules adopted pursuant to this Act.
        (8) Approve all EMDPRS protocols used by emergency
    
medical dispatch agencies to assure compliance with national standards.
        (9) Require that Department-approved emergency
    
medical dispatch training programs are conducted in accordance with national standards.
        (10) Require that the emergency medical dispatch
    
agency be operated in accordance with national standards, including, but not limited to, (i) the use on every request for medical assistance of an emergency medical dispatch priority reference system (EMDPRS) in accordance with Department-approved policies and procedures and (ii) under the approval and supervision of the EMS medical director, the establishment of a continuous quality improvement program.
        (11) Require that a person may not represent himself
    
or herself, nor may an agency or business represent an agent or employee of that agency or business, as an emergency medical dispatcher unless licensed by the Department as an emergency medical dispatcher.
        (12) Require that a person, organization, or
    
government agency not represent itself as an emergency medical dispatch agency unless the person, organization, or government agency is certified by the Department as an emergency medical dispatch agency.
        (13) Require that a person, organization, or
    
government agency may not offer or conduct a training course that is represented as a course for an emergency medical dispatcher unless the person, organization, or agency is approved by the Department to offer or conduct that course.
        (14) Require that Department-approved emergency
    
medical dispatcher training programs are conducted by instructors licensed by the Department who:
            (i) are, at a minimum, licensed as emergency
        
medical dispatchers;
            (ii) have completed a Department-approved course
        
on methods of instruction;
            (iii) have previous experience in a medical
        
dispatch agency; and
            (iv) have demonstrated experience as an EMS
        
instructor.
        (15) Establish criteria for modifying or waiving
    
Emergency Medical Dispatcher requirements based on (i) the scope and frequency of dispatch activities and the dispatcher’s access to training or (ii) whether the previously-attended dispatcher training program merits automatic relicensure for the dispatcher.
        (16) Charge each Emergency Medical Dispatcher
    
applicant a fee for licensure and license renewal.
    (c) The Department shall have the authority to suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew the license of an EMD when, after notice and the opportunity for an impartial hearing, the Department demonstrates that the licensee has violated this Act, violated the rules adopted by the Department, or failed to comply with the applicable standard of care.
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