The department is authorized and directed to develop a compatible statewide system of emergency medical service area telecommunications. In formulating such a system, the department shall develop a program that includes, but is not limited to, the following provisions:

(1) A provision that determines the basic telecommunications requirements for each emergency medical entity within an emergency medical service area;

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-140-103

  • Department: means the department of health. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
  • Emergency medical entity: means any singular facility, providing emergency medical services to the general public, either resident or transient, in this state. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
  • Emergency medical services: means the services used in responding to the perceived individual need for immediate medical care in order to prevent loss of life or aggravation of physiological or psychological illness or injury. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
  • Interfacility telecommunications: means the exchange of ideas, instruction, or intelligence, pertaining to emergency medical services, between two (2) or more emergency medical entities. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
  • Resource inventory: means the tabulation of all equipment capable of performing telecommunications actions within, from, or to an emergency medical entity. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
  • Telecommunications: means those voice, data, and signaling transmissions and receptions between emergency medical service entities, including, but not limited to, ambulances, rescue vehicles, hospitals or other related emergency receiving facilities, emergency communications centers, physicians and emergency medical personnel, paging facilities, law enforcement agencies, fire control agencies, poison control centers, suicide prevention agencies, and disaster control centers. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
  • Telecommunications resource coordination center: means that urban center of population within an emergency medical service area providing the facilities and manpower to maintain telecommunications contact, on a continuous basis, with other emergency medical entities within the emergency medical service area. See Tennessee Code 68-140-102
(2) An interfacility telecommunications provision that depicts the telecommunications resource coordination center for each emergency medical service area and designate the responsibilities of the center;
(3) A telecommunications resource inventory provision that includes each emergency medical entity and the number of radio operating units, base, mobile, handheld, and other units, per entity;
(4) An operational provision that includes dispatching, logging, and operating procedures pertaining to telecommunications on an emergency medical service area basis;
(5) An emergency medical service access provision that includes the telephone and radio numbering plan throughout the emergency medical service areas for both the landline and wireless requirements; and
(6) Any dispatching entity receiving and dispatching calls for emergency medical services that provides pre-arrival medical care instructions may require persons assigned to handle such calls to be certified as emergency medical dispatchers as defined in § 68-140-302. All such dispatching entities shall have medically approved dispatch protocols.
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