It was earlier proposed that the Department of Public Health will be the regulating body for ambulance services now being run by a private company. But some concerns were raised regarding operation of this business.
Rep. Ralph DLG Torres, R-Saipan and chairman of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare, said in an interview yesterday that the Department of Public Safety brought up this issue because it wants to make sure that the private ambulance will operate under the same regulations being followed by the ambulance services provided by EMS.
The lawmaker said he talked to EMS and fire division officials who agreed that EMS should regulate the ambulance services, which Torres described as “very important for public safety.”
The 15th Legislature introduced last year House Bill 15-279 requiring Public Health to regulate the islands’ private ambulance services. The bill wasn’t passed.
The Public Health and EMS, Torres said, have separate concerns regarding the bill.
This year, Torres introduced H.B. 16-111 mandating EMS to regulate private ambulance services.
The main concern, Torres said, is who will implement the rules.
“We don’t want any private corporation to just create an EMS motor service and not comply with a regulated policy,” Torres said.
The Legislature and concerned agencies, he added, want to have a “synchronized policy for everybody to ensure public safety.”
