Title 7 . Health and Social Services

Chapter 26 . Embalming and Other Post-Mortem Services

Section 330. Qualifications for certification

7 AAC 26.330. Qualifications for certification

(a) An applicant for certification as a medevac service, critical care air ambulance service, or specialty aeromedical transport team shall

(1) except for a military service, use an aircraft operator who meets the requirements of and complies with 14 C.F.R. sec. 91 or 135;

(2) have available aircraft with proper restraining devices for patients, litters, and equipment;

(3) be available to provide service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except when flying conditions are unsafe or when the members of the service are busy responding to another medical emergency;

(4) list in advertisements the levels of certified or licensed medical personnel available for its service; and

(5) for a medevac service, have a medical director who agrees to accept the responsibilities set out in 7 AAC 26.6509(b), and shall submit written verification, on a form provided by the department, that the medical director meets the applicable qualifications set out in 7 AAC 26.630;

(b) In addition to the requirements listed in (a) of this section, an applicant for certification as a medevac service shall

(1) be an air service, hospital, medical clinic, or a certified emergency medical service outside hospitals that will routinely transport patients on medevacs;

(2) have available certified or licensed medical personnel, to include emergency medical technicians, mobile intensive care paramedics, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, or physicians, and assure the department that at least one of the certified or licensed medical personnel who has successfully completed department-approved medevac training, will be available to accompany each medevac patient; and

(3) have available appropriate medical equipment to perform emergency medical procedures within the skill levels of available certified or licensed medical personnel; the equipment must include the recommended equipment, supplies, and drugs, excluding the extrication equipment unless needed by the service, for the EMT-Ambulance, EMT-Intermediate, and those parts of the EMT-Paramedic for which the applicant has standing orders signed by the medical director, listed in "Essential Equipment for Ambulances", Aug. 1983 American College of Surgeons Bulletin, Vol. 68, No. 8.

(c) In addition to those requirements listed in (a) of this section, an applicant for certification as a critical care air ambulance service shall

(1) be able to routinely provide or offer to provide critical care air ambulance service;

(2) have available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, aircraft, containing the aircraft equipment and of the design recommended by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Medical Association Commission on Emergency Medical Services in Air Ambulance Guidelines 1981, including a heating system, air-to-ground and air-to-air communications capability, interior lighting for patient care, pressurization, if available and required for patient care, and adequate space for proper patient care;

(3) have available licensed medical personnel, to include mobile intensive care paramedics, physician's assistants, registered nurses, critical care registered nurses, certified emergency nurses, nurse practitioners, or physicians, and assure the department that at least one of the licensed medical personnel, who has successfully completed department-approved aeromedical training, will be available to accompany each seriously or critically ill or injured patient on air ambulance transports;

(4) have a medical director who agrees to accept the responsibilities set out in 7 AAC 26.650(b) , and shall submit written verification, on a form provided by the department, that the medical director meets the applicable qualifications set out in 7 AAC 26.630;

(5) have written procedures for handling all categories of patients who will be provided transportation; and

(6) have available, for all categories of patients being transported, appropriate medical equipment that must include the recommended equipment, supplies, and drugs listed in "Appendix D to Hospital Resources Document, Air Ambulance Operations", Section B, Oct. 1984, American College of Surgeons Bulletin, Vol. 69, No. 10, and medications or equipment for other missions as required by the medical director.

(d) In addition to those requirements listed in (a) of this section, an applicant for certification as a specialty aeromedical transport team shall

(1) be a specialty aeromedical transport team that routinely transports a special category of patients by air;

(2) have available licensed medical personnel, to include mobile intensive care paramedics, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, critical care registered nurses, certified emergency nurses, or physicians, who have had training in the medical specialty for which the specialty aeromedical transport team is to be certified, and assure the department that at least one of the licensed medical personnel, who has successfully completed department-approved aeromedical training, will be available to accompany each patient being transported;

(3) have a medical director who agrees to accept the responsibilities set out in 7 AAC 26.650(b) , and shall submit written verification, on a form provided by the department, that the medical director meets the applicable qualifications set out in 7 AAC 26.630;

(4) have written procedures for handling all categories of patients who will be provided transportation; and

(5) have available appropriate medical equipment, which must be department approved, for the special category of patients being routinely transported.

(e) Only equipment needed for each individual patient is required to be on the aircraft at any given time.

(f) Equipment must have been tested in the airborne environment to determine if it works as designed at high altitudes, and does not interfere with aircraft operations.

(g) In its discretion, the department will allow revisions to the equipment lists for each category of certified service, based on documented medical or transportation factors.

History: Eff. 9/28/85, Register 95; am 10/23/92, Register 124

Authority: AS 18.08.080

AS 18.08.082

AS 18.08.084