(1) (a) The department may administer oaths, take affirmations of witnesses, and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of all relevant records and documents to investigate alleged misconduct by certified or licensed emergency medical service providers.
(b) Upon failure of a witness to comply with a subpoena, the department may apply to a district court for an order requiring the person to appear before the department or an administrative law judge, to produce the relevant records or documents, or to give testimony or evidence touching the matter under investigation or in question. When seeking an order, the department shall apply to the district court of the county in which the subpoenaed person resides or conducts business. The court may punish such failure as a contempt of court.
An emergency medical service provider, the medical supervisor of an emergencymedical service provider in a clinical setting, as those terms are defined in section 25-3.5-207 (1), the employer of an emergency medical service provider, a medical director, and a physician providing medical direction of an emergency medical service provider shall report to the department any misconduct that is known or reasonably believed by the person to have occurred.
A person acting as a witness or consultant to the department, a witness testifying, anda person or employer who reports misconduct to the department under this section shall be immune from liability in any civil action brought for acts occurring while testifying, producing evidence, or reporting misconduct under this section if such individual or employer was acting in good faith and with a reasonable belief of the facts. A person or employer participating in good faith in an investigation or an administrative proceeding pursuant to this section shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability that may result from such participation.
All records, documents, testimony, or evidence obtained under this section shall remain confidential except to the extent necessary to support the administrative action taken by the department, to refer the matter to another regulatory agency, or to refer the matter to a law enforcement agency for criminal prosecution.
For the purposes of this section:
"Medical director" means a physician who provides medical direction to certified orlicensed emergency medical service providers consistent with the rules adopted by the director or chief medical officer, as applicable, under section 25-3.5-206.
"Misconduct" means an activity meeting the good cause for disciplinary sanctionsstandard, as defined by the board.
Source: L. 2005: Entire section added, p. 875, § 1, effective August 8. L. 2010: (5)(a) amended, (HB 10-1260), ch. 403, p. 1945, § 9, effective July 1. L. 2012: (1)(a), (2), and (5)(a) amended, (HB 12-1059), ch. 271, p. 1430, § 5, effective July 1. L. 2019: (1)(a) and (5)(a) amended, (SB 19-242), ch. 396, p. 3529, § 17, effective May 31; (2) and (5)(a) amended, (SB 19-052), ch. 122, p. 528, § 3, effective August 2. L. 2020: (5)(a) amended, (HB 20-1402), ch. 216, p. 1053, § 52, effective June 30.
Editor's note: Subsection (5)(a) was amended in SB 19-242. Those amendments were superseded by the amendment of subsection (5)(a) in SB 19-052, effective August 2, 2019.