147A.8 Authority of certified emergency medical care provider.

An emergency medical care provider properly certified under this subchapter may:

1. Render emergency and nonemergency medical care, rescue, and lifesaving services in those areas for which the emergency medical care provider is certified, as defined and approved in accordance with the rules of the department, at the scene of an emergency, during transportation to a hospital or while in the hospital emergency department, and until care is directly assumed by a physician or by authorized hospital personnel.

2. Function in any hospital or any other entity in which health care is ordinarily provided only when under the direct supervision, as defined by rules adopted pursuant to chapter 17A, of a physician, when the emergency care provider is any of the following:

a. Enrolled as a student or participating as a preceptor in a training program approved by the department or an agency authorized in another state to provide initial EMS education and approved by the department.

b. Fulfilling continuing education requirements as defined by rule.

c. Employed by or assigned to a hospital or other entity in which health care is ordinarily provided only when under the direct supervision of a physician, as a member of an authorized service program, or in an individual capacity, by rendering lifesaving services in the facility in which employed or assigned pursuant to the emergency medical care provider’s certification and under the direct supervision of a physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse. An emergency medical care provider shall not routinely function without the direct supervision of a physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse. However, when the physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse cannot directly assume emergency care of the patient, the emergency medical care provider may perform without direct supervision emergency medical care procedures for which that individual is certified if the life of the patient is in immediate danger and such care is required to preserve the patient’s life.

d. Employed by or assigned to a hospital or other entity in which health care is ordinarily provided only when under the direct supervision of a physician, as a member of an authorized service program, or in an individual capacity, to perform nonlifesaving procedures for which those individuals have been certified and are designated in a written job description. Such procedures may be performed after the patient is observed by and when the emergency medical care provider is under the supervision of the physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse, including when the registered nurse is not acting in the capacity of a physician designee, and where the procedure may be immediately abandoned without risk to the patient.

[C79, 81, §147A.8]

84 Acts, ch 1287, §8; 89 Acts, ch 89, §11; 93 Acts, ch 58, §5, 7; 93 Acts, ch 107, §1; 95 Acts, ch 41, §17; 99 Acts, ch 141, §24; 2000 Acts, ch 1009, §1; 2001 Acts, ch 58, §10; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263; 2010 Acts, ch 1149, §12