(a) The authority shall develop, and after approval of the commission pursuant to Section 1799.50, shall adopt, minimum standards for the training and scope of practice for EMT-II.
(b) (1) No later than July 1, 2019, the authority, local EMS agency, and certifying entity shall require an applicant to provide either the individual taxpayer identification number or social security number for purposes of applying for a certificate or the renewal of a certificate.
(2) If the authority, local EMS agency, or certifying entity utilizes a national examination to issue a certificate, and if a reciprocity agreement or comity exists between the State of California and the state requesting release of the individual taxpayer identification number or social security number, any deputy, agent, clerk, officer, or employee of the authority or agency may release an individual’s taxpayer identification number or social security number to an examination or certifying entity, only for the purpose of verification of certification or examination status.
(3) The individual taxpayer identification or the social security number shall serve to establish the identification of persons affected by state tax laws and for purposes of establishing compliance with subsection (a) of Section 666 of Title 42 of the United States Code, Section 60.15 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 17520 of the Family Code, and Section 11105 of the Penal Code, and to that end, the information furnished pursuant to this section shall be used exclusively for those purposes.
(4) The authority, local EMS agency, and certifying entity shall not do either of the following:
(A) Require an applicant to disclose citizenship status or immigration status for purposes of the application or renewal of a certificate.
(B) Deny certification to an otherwise qualified and eligible applicant based solely on the applicant’s citizenship status or immigration status.
(c) An EMT-II shall complete a course of training on the nature of sudden infant death syndrome in accordance with subdivision (d) of Section 1797.170.
(d) In rural or remote areas of the state where patient transport times are particularly long and where local resources are inadequate to support an EMT-P program for EMS responses, the director may approve additions to the scope of practice of EMT-IIs serving the local system, if requested by the medical director of the local EMS agency, and if the EMT-II has received training equivalent to that of an EMT-P. The approval of the director, in consultation with a committee of local EMS medical directors named by the Emergency Medical Directors Association of California, is required prior to implementation of any addition to a local optional scope of practice for EMT-IIs proposed by the medical director of a local EMS agency. No drug or procedure that is not part of the basic EMT-P scope of practice, including, but not limited to, any approved local options, shall be added to any EMT-II scope of practice pursuant to this subdivision.
Approval of additions to the scope of practices pursuant to this subdivision may be given only for EMT-II programs in effect on January 1, 1994.
(e) To ensure that EMT-IIs licensed in this state are able to assist individuals living with cognitive impairment, the authority shall, as part of EMT-II basic training, include a component within the dementia-specific training hours on how to interact effectively with persons with dementia and their caregivers. In developing this component, the authority may consult with community organizations advocating on behalf of Californians with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 88, Sec. 2. (AB 453) Effective January 1, 2020.)