STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman JAMES J. KENNEDY
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman RAJ MUKHERJI
District 33 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle and Assemblyman Karabinchak
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain ambulances to carry epinephrine.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning epinephrine and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
“Basic life support” means a basic level of pre-hospital care which includes patient stabilization, airway clearance, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, hemorrhage control, initial wound care and fracture stabilization and other techniques and procedures authorized by the Department of Health.
“Emergency medical technician” means a person trained in basic life support services as defined in section 1 of P.L.1985, c.351 (C.26:2K-21) and who is certified by the Department of Health to perform these services.
“Volunteer first aid, rescue and ambulance squad” shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.1987, c.284 (C.27:5F-20).
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary, each basic life support ambulance service vehicle and each volunteer first aid, rescue and ambulance squad vehicle shall be equipped with a supply of epinephrine auto-injector devices, syringes, or both, and shall be staffed by at least one emergency medical technician certified to administer an epinephrine auto-injector device, syringe, or both.
2. The Commissioner of Health may promulgate rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
3. This act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires certain ambulances to carry epinephrine. Under the bill, each basic life support ambulance service vehicle and each volunteer first aid, rescue and ambulance squad vehicle is to be equipped with a supply of epinephrine auto-injector devices, syringes, or both, and is to be staffed by at least one emergency medical technician certified to administer an epinephrine auto-injector device, syringe, or both.
The bill defines “basic life support” to mean a basic level of pre-hospital care which includes patient stabilization, airway clearance, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, hemorrhage control, initial wound care and fracture stabilization and other techniques and procedures authorized by the Department of Health. “Emergency medical technician” means a person trained in basic life support services as defined in section 1 of P.L.1985, c.351 (C.26:2K-21) and who is certified by the Department of Health to perform these services.