The bureau is designated as the lead agency for the emergency medical services system, including injury prevention, and shall establish and maintain a program for regional planning and development, improvement, expansion and direction of emergency medical services throughout the state, including:

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A. design, development, implementation and coordination of emergency medical services communications systems to join the personnel, facilities and equipment of a given region or system that will allow for medical direction;

B. provision of technical assistance to the department of transportation for further development and implementation of standards for certification of ambulance services, vehicles and equipment;

C. development of requirements for the collection of data and statistics to evaluate the availability, operation and quality of providers in the state;

D. adoption of rules for emergency medical services medical direction upon the recommendation of the medical direction committee;

E. approval of continuing education programs for emergency medical services personnel;

F. adoption of rules pertaining to the training and licensure of emergency medical dispatchers and their instructors;

G. adoption of rules based upon the recommendations of a trauma advisory committee, for implementation and monitoring of a statewide, comprehensive trauma care system, including:

(1)     minimum standards for designation or retention of designation as a trauma center or a participating trauma facility;

(2)     pre-hospital care management guidelines for the triage and transportation of traumatized persons;

(3)     establishment for interfacility transfer criteria and transfer agreements; (4)     standards for collection of data relating to trauma system operation, patient outcome and trauma prevention; and

(5)     creation of a state trauma care plan;

H. adoption of rules, based upon the recommendations of the air transport advisory committee, for the certification of air ambulance services;

I. adoption of rules pertaining to authorization of providers to honor advance directives, such as emergency medical services do not resuscitate forms, to withhold or terminate care in certain pre-hospital or interfacility circumstances, as guided by local medical protocols;

J. operation of a critical incident stress management program for emergency providers utilizing specifically trained volunteers who shall be considered public employees for the purposes of the Tort Claims Act N.M. Stat. Ann. § 41-4-1 to 41-4-27 when called upon to perform their duties;

K. adoption of rules to establish a cardiac arrest targeted response program pursuant to the Cardiac Arrest Response Act N.M. Stat. Ann. § 24-10C-1 to 24-10C-7, including registration of automated external defibrillator programs, maintenance of equipment, data collection, approval of automated external defibrillator training programs and a schedule of automated external defibrillator program registration fees;

L. adoption of rules for the administration of an emergency medical services certification program for certified emergency medical services; and

M. promoting, developing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating risk reduction and injury prevention systems.