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 He noted that the current state regulations referenced outdated and incorrect CPR standards.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.