State of Connecticut General Assembly

State of Connecticut General Assembly

Senator John Kissel

Legislative Office Building

300 Capital Avenue

Hartford CT, 06106

March 6, 2014

Senator Kissel;

Bill No. 416 is currently in the Public Health committee. We are asking for you to support the volunteers of Suffield Ambulance and ask the members of the Public Health Committee to NOT support this bill. This bill would allow the Department of Public Health to eliminate the Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) Level in the state of Connecticut. Over 740 EMS providers in Connecticut are certified at the AEMT level. They are perfectly positioned between the EMT level and Paramedic level in their skills and ability to provide advanced medical care to their patients.

We agree with Commissioner of Public Health that the present AEMT’s in CT aretrained to an outdated level that was established in 1985. We however strongly disagree with the elimination of the level. Rather than elimination, the level should be brought into alignment with the 2009 National Scope of Practice study. This study recommends bringing the many levels of EMS provider throughout the country into alignment with a uniform skillset and educational requirement. The result of this study was to consolidate over 35 levels of certification to a four-tiered EMS provider system; Medical Response Technician (MRT), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) and Paramedic (EMTP). These four levels are set up to provide uniform delivery levels nationwide by allowing for EMS to be directly involved in more cost-effective delivery of health care.

Presently in Connecticut, many of the AEMT’s that are certified by the Department of Public Health function as volunteers. They are members of the general public who have taken it upon themselves to devote their own time and money to advance their training and knowledge in EMS to help their neighbors. The Commissioner of Public Health is advocating for the elimination of this level with little concern for the impact this change will have on these volunteers and the people to whom they provide care.

The Commissioner of Public Healthis also maintaining that the 1985 standard has limited clinical value and we agree from a purely scientific standpoint. We are not asking that the 1985 standard be kept but that the State move to the same standard that all our neighboring states are moving to, in fact most of the states in the United States are moving to. The 1985 standard provides for skills that alone provide limited clinical value but together, in a comprehensive system, provide a better system and delivery of care and they provide for more education in the delivery of care. In the end a provider who has broadened their level of knowledge is a benefit to the system and the patients they serve, regardless of the “clinical value” assigned to a skill. We don’t require all drivers in Connecticut take a driver’s education class to become licensed drivers however we do encourage it. Why would we discourage a higher level of knowledge when it comes to caring for the sick and injured?

The Department Of Public Health is attempting to develop exceptions to a national standard in the interest of money without taking into consideration patient care and providers. If this level was so “wrong” why has it been endorsed and supported by so many states? Why are people in Connecticut entitled to less emergency healthcare than people in Massachusetts, a state our community borders that has endorsed the 2009 AEMT level?

I have tried to paraphrase our concerns when it comes to this change and as a result I am sure some of the issues have been lost translation. I would be more than willing to discuss these concerns with you or any members of the Public Health Committee at any time that would be convenient to you.

Suffield Volunteer Ambulance is fortunate to have over 87 volunteers that ride our ambulances and donate over 26,000 hours to that effort every year; some of them at the AEMT level. They have given so much to us and we owe it to them to support their efforts. Thank you for all your efforts to support Public Health, and particularly EMS, in the State of Connecticut. We look forward to your support in keeping the changes proposed in Bill No 416 from becoming a reality.

Sincerely,

Arthur Groux, Chief

Suffield Volunteer Ambulance