Nebraska Patient-Transport Bill Could Drop EMT-Only Rule

LINCOLN -- Meadow Grove Fire Chief Lonnie LaRue worries that one day he and another first responder will be the only ones to show up at a medical emergency in their northeast Nebraska town.

They'll be able to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, use a defibrillator, give oxygen, control bleeding and provide several other kinds of life-saving services.

But they won't be able to put their patient in an ambulance and drive that person to a hospital for more sophisticated care.

Under Nebraska law, only emergency medical technicians can transport patients in ambulances.

That's why LaRue and a number of other volunteer firefighters showed up Thursday to push for Legislative Bill 1058, which would allow first responders to transport patients in emergency situations.

The bill was introduced by State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk.

"Having a first responder may not be the best, but they're going to save a few lives," LaRue told members of the Health and Human Services Committee.

But Linwood Fire Chief Joel Cerny, also a first responder, disagreed.

"I don't feel I have the training to be the sole person in the back of an ambulance," he said.

Cerny represented the Nebraska Fire Chiefs Association, which opposes the bill.

He said both supporters and opponents of the measure are concerned about the dwindling number of people available to provide emergency care in rural Nebraska.

Bruce Beins, an EMT from Republican City and president of the Nebraska EMS Association, said the answer to those concerns is not to put patients at risk by allowing less trained people to transport them.

"We don't want to lower the standard of care for all citizens of the state," he said. "There is no state in the union that allows first responders to transport."

Beins said Republican City gets around concerns about not having an EMT to provide care by having volunteers from a neighboring community dispatched simultaneously.

Between the two communities, at least one EMT is likely to be available.

Other towns solve the problem by having EMTs take turns being available on each day of the week, he said.

Cerny said Linwood residents already have to call David City for help during daytime hours because all of the volunteer responders -- both first responders and EMTs -- work elsewhere.

Committee members took no action on LB 1058.

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