West Virginia Code 16-4C-20 – Service reciprocity agreements for mutual aid
Any persons or entities providing lawful emergency medical services under the provisions of this article are hereby authorized in their discretion to enter into and renew service reciprocity agreements, for any period as they may deem advisable, with the appropriate emergency medical service providers, county, municipal or other governmental units or in counties contiguous to the State of West Virginia, in the state of Ohio, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the state of Maryland, the commonwealth of Virginia or the commonwealth of Kentucky, in order to establish and carry into effect a plan to provide mutual aid across state lines, through the furnishing of properly certified personnel and equipment for the provision of emergency medical services in this state and the counties contiguous to this state upon written approval by the commissioner.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 16-4C-20
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health. See West Virginia Code 16-4C-3
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Emergency medical service personnel: means any person certified by the commissioner to provide emergency medical services as set forth by legislative rule. See West Virginia Code 16-4C-3
- Emergency Medical Services: means all services which are set forth in Public Law 93-154 "The Emergency Medical Services Systems Act of 1973" and those included in and made a part of the emergency medical services plan of the Department of Health and Human Resources inclusive of, but not limited to, responding to the medical needs of an individual to prevent the loss of life or aggravation of illness or injury. See West Virginia Code 16-4C-3
- Service reciprocity: means the provision of emergency medical services to citizens of this state by emergency medical service personnel certified to render those services by a neighboring state. See West Virginia Code 16-4C-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
No person or entity may enter into any such agreement unless the agreement provides that each of the parties to the agreement shall waive any and all claims against the other parties thereto, which may arise out of their activities outside of their respective jurisdictions under the agreement and shall indemnify and save harmless the other parties to the agreement from all claims by third parties for property damages or personal injuries which may arise out of the activities of the other parties to the agreement outside their respective jurisdictions under the agreement.
The commissioner is hereby authorized to enter into service reciprocity agreements with appropriate officials in other states for the purpose of providing emergency medical services to the citizens of this state by emergency medical service personnel properly certified in their respective state or states. A formal agreement between the commissioner and an authorized official of another state shall be in effect prior to the service being provided. Individual certification of other state emergency medical service personnel is not required for purposes of providing services to West Virginia citizens following the creation of the agreement by the responsible officials.