Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 106
03/29/2012 03:00 PM House HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB202 | |
| SCR16 | |
| HB319 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 202 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SCR 16 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 319 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 202-RESUSCITATION PROTOCOL DOCUMENTS
3:01:38 PM
CHAIR KELLER announced that the first order of business would be
SENATE BILL NO. 202, "An Act relating to resuscitation protocol
documents that may be adopted by reference in regulations."
3:02:00 PM
SENATOR DENNIS EGAN, Alaska State Legislature, explained that
proposed SB 202 addressed CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)
standards and resuscitation protocol. He explained that,
although CPR standards were regularly updated based on new
research, the process for changing the state agency regulations
remained slow. He noted that the current state regulations
referenced outdated and incorrect CPR standards. He directed
attention to AS 47.05.012 which allowed the Department of Health
and Social Services (DHSS) to adopt certain health materials and
standards by reference. He reported that proposed SB 202 would
add the findings of the International Liaison Committee on
Resuscitation (ILCOR), an international group of scientists that
review studies, make treatment recommendations, and publish the
findings, to the list of documents included in statute. He
noted that the current resuscitation regulations were adopted in
2002, with the standard being administration of 15 chest
compressions and 2 breathes. Today, he stated, it was
recommended to train rescuers to use 2 breathes for every 30
compressions, while the average bystander was now taught to only
use compressions. He declared that proposed SB 202 would ensure
that emergency medical services instructors in Alaska would now
teach the most current and appropriate resuscitation standards
without the burdensome revision of agency regulations.
3:04:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON, commenting on resistance to national
standards, asked if Legislative Legal and Research Services had
any concerns with the proposed bill.
3:04:47 PM
SENATOR EGAN, in response, said that, as the proposed bill took
the ILCOR findings into consideration, Legislative Legal and
Research Services were satisfied.
3:05:48 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON clarified that he was in favor of the
legislation, but he relayed the concerns for varying standards
voiced by different groups during past legislation.
3:06:53 PM
RICHARD ETHERIDGE, Chief, Capital City Fire and Rescue, Second
Vice President, State Fire Chief Association, declared that the
proposed bill was a greatly needed change in regulations and
statutes as it would assist in saving lives through CPR. He
reported that CPR standards were updated regularly from
scientific research by ILCOR and the American Heart Association.
He explained that Alaska would fall behind in updates of
standards as the current regulations were written into Alaska
statute, which required the legislative process to be updated.
He said that the proposed bill would place the CPR standards
into regulations that would allow DHSS to update them. He
declared that the CPR changes worked, and he shared that five to
nine people were saved in Juneau annually. He pointed out that
the proposed bill impacted the daily lives of the providers as
re-certifications were now to a national standard. He declared
his support for SB 202.
3:10:23 PM
CHAIR KELLER asked if there were any ramifications for risk to
the fire department or the State of Alaska if the standards were
not updated.
CHIEF ETHERIDGE replied that he was not aware of any additional
risk.
3:11:09 PM
CHIEF ETHERIDGE, in response to Representative Herron, said that
he was a citizen of Juneau. In response to another question
from Representative Herron, he said that he was not aware if
Senator Egan was currently certified to perform CPR.
3:11:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON asked if there was a time lag between the
latest protocol based on ILCOR standard and local teaching, and
if this would cause any unintended consequence.
3:13:27 PM
CHIEF ETHERIDGE replied that existing standards were maintained
until an agency recognized, updated, and trained to the new
standards, although this was usually a very short time.
3:14:25 PM
KEN ZAFREN, Medical Director, State EMS (Emergency Medical
Services) Council, declared his support for proposed SB 202, as
it would allow EMS agencies in Alaska to update resuscitation
techniques based on the latest recommendations. He said that
ILCOR reviewed all the research, then made its recommendations,
which were put into guidelines by the American Heart Association
and the European Resuscitation Council. He pointed out that
these two sets of guidelines were usually similar though not
necessarily identical. He explained that that the proposed bill
based the recommendations on those from ILCOR, as it gave EMS
more flexibility for a choice of guidelines to best serve the
state.
3:17:48 PM
DAVID HULL, Chair, Governor's Alaska Council on Emergency
Medical Services (ACEMS), expressed his support for the proposed
legislation. He explained that ILCOR was the CPR procedure. He
agreed with Chief Etheridge that the latest standards would be
taught when people returned for recertification. He declared
that the proposed bill would allow EMS instructors in Alaska "to
teach the most current, appropriate resuscitation standards as
they are published, without having to go through the regulatory
changes to adopt new curricula for our training programs."
3:20:41 PM
WARD HURLBURT, M.D., Chief Medical Officer/Director, Division of
Public Health, Central Office, Department of Health and Social
Services, testified in support of SB 202, as it allowed the use
of contemporary recommendations to determine the preferred
methodology for training and teaching CPR, as well as the
flexibility to make modifications if the methodology was updated
by ILCOR. He pointed out that, as there was not any monitoring
of CPR, individuals would use the training method that they had
learned, and would continue to save lives with CPR. He opined
that the proposed bill would not create any confusion.
3:23:14 PM
CHAIR KELLER closed public testimony.
3:23:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said that his concern for the timing of
the certification to the new procedures was alleviated.
3:24:18 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DICK moved to report SB 202 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal
notes. There being no objection, SB 202 was forwarded from the
House Health and Social Services Standing Committee.