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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3622 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE amending Ordinance No. 3535/ which is codified aS Chapter 5.50 of the Bremerton Municipal Code relating to Ambulance services and the licensing and regulating thereof. THE CITY OF BREMERTON DOES HEREBY ORDAIN: Section 1. Ordinance No. 3535 pertaining to the licensing and regulation of Ambulance Services is hereby amenTdt°read/~a~l~ws:~ , ~ Section 1- DEFINITIONS ~j~ ~ct~~ D,, . ~ ~ A.~--"Ambulance means any privately or publicly owned vehicle that is especially designed, constructed, equipped, maintained or used for the transpor%ation of patients who are sick, injured or otherwise incapacitated, which is operated as part of an ambulance service for hire. B. "Ambulance Service" means any person, as herein- after defined, who operates an ambulance for hire which is either stationed within or without the city or dispatched from within or withou% the city to pick up injured or sick fares within the city or which makes trips to the city, from points outside its city limits, for the purpose of transporting sick or injured fares from points within the city; provided, however, that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any ambulance which shall pass through the city in the delivery of fares picked up at points beyond the limits of the City; and provided further, that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any ambulance which is owned and operated by an ambulance service that is licensed in another jurisdiction within the State of Washington, when said ambulance enters the City for the sole purpose of transporting a sick or injured fare from a point within the City to a point within the jurisdiction wherein said ambulance service is licensed. C. "Medial Att~dant" ~s ~y ~a~ or o~e~ise qualifi~ ~divid~l, respons~le for ~e o~ration of ~ ambul~ce ~d ~e care of ~e pati~%s whe~er or not ~e medial att~dant also se~es as a ~iver. D. "Communication System" means two-way radio communica- tions between ambulances, dispatchers, hospitals and other agencies as needed. A four bank multi-frequency capability is acceptable. E. "Patient" means an individual who is sick, injured, wounded or otherwise incapacitated or helpless. F. "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, group of individuals acting together for a common purpose or organization of any kind, including any governmental agency other than the United States. section 2: LICENSE REQUIRED A. No person shall operate an ambulance or ambulance service, unless licensed to do so by the city of Bremerton. B. No such license shall be issued unless: 1. The applicant has fulfilled all the require- ments of the laws of the State of Washington, including but not limited to Chapter 18.73 RCW and Chapter 248-17 WAC, as those chapters currently exist or are hereafter amended per- taining to Emergency Medical Care and Transportation Services and Ambulance Rules and Regulations; 2~ The applicant has met all the requirements of this Ordinance, including standards and regulations recommended by the Advisory Committee and approved by the City Council pursuant to this ordinance; 3. The applicant has filed a copy of liability insurance policy or policies showing evidence of coverage in accordance with Section Four of this Ordinance. The limits of such liability insurance shall be not less than three hundred thousand dollars per person and five hundred thousand dollars per accident and property damage liability coverage is to be not less than fifty thousand dollars; 4. The applicant has filed a copy of its mal- -2- practice insurance policy or policies showing evidence of coverage in accordance with Section Four of this Ordinance. The limits of such malpractice insurance shall be not less than five hundred thousand dollars per person; and 5. All personnel employed by the applicant shall be licensed by the City of Bremerton to operate the ambulances of the applicant; provided, that a temporary license shall be issued to any otherwise qualified ambulance operator for a thirty day period until a permanent license can be issued. Section 3: LICENSE APPLICATION All applications to operate an ambulance or ambulance service shall be submitted in writing to the Bremerton City Clerk on forms provided by the City Clerk for that purpose. If all the requirements of this Ordinance and all standards and regulations adopted pursuant to this Ordinance have been met, said license application shall be approved and the Clerk shall issue the license. The application shall at a minimum, contain the following information: A. Name, home address and telephone number of the applicant; B. Business name under which the ambulance service will be ope~.ated within the city, together with business address and telephone number; C. In case of a corporation, the name and address of the officers and directors of such corporation, and in case of a partnership, the name and address of each general or limited partner; D. A description of each ambulance, including the make, model, year of manufacture, motor and chassis number, together with current state license number; the length of time the ambulance has been in ~use, and the color scheme, insignia, name, monogram or other distinguishing characteristics to be used to d~signate applicants' ambulance; -3- E. The location and description of the place or places from which the ambulance service is intended to operate and the number of licensed medical attendants to be initially employed. Section 4: LICENSING STANDARDS, INSURANCE A. No ambulance operator's license shall be issued, nor shall such license be valid after issuance nor any ambulance be operated in the city unless the operator shall deposit with the City Clerk a policy or policies of liability insurance and malpractice insurance, or certified copies of same, together with evidence of premium payment, issued by a responsible insurance company to be approved by the City, and naming the City as an additional insured which insures against all claims for personal injury, death, malpractice, errors and omissions and property damage arising out of the operation of said ambu- lance and the care of patients. The insurer shall be a company licensed to do business in the state. The limits of said policy shall be not less than specified in Section Two. B. Said insurance policies shall be submitted to the City Clerk for approval prior to the issuance of each ambulance license. Satisfactory evidence that such insurance is at all time in full force and effect shall be furnished to the City Clerk, in such form as he may specify, by all licensees required to provide such insurance under the terms of this chapter. C. Every insurance policy required under this section shall contain a provision four continuing liability thereunder to the full amount thereof, notwithstanding any recovery thereon, that the liability of the insurer shall not be affected by the insolvency or the bankruptcy of the insured, and that until the policy is revoked the insurance company will not be relieved from liability on account of nonpayment of premium, failure to renew license at the end of the year, or any other act or omission of the named insured. -4- D. Every insurance policy required under this section shall extend for the period to be covered by the license applied for and the insurer shall be obliged to give not less than thirty days written notice to the City Clerk and to the insured before any cancellation or termination of the policy earlier than its expiration date, and the cancellation or other termination of any such policy shall automatically revoke and terminate any license issued for the ambulances covered by such policy, unless a substitute insurance policy complying with the provisions of this section shall be provided and be in effect at or prior to the time of such cancellation or termination. Section 5: CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT AID CAR In the event that the City's fire department operates an aid car, then in such event, the fire department reserves the right to respond to any emergency situation and/or the transportation of any patient to a hospital when the officer in charge determines that special circumstances exist requiring transportation of a patient by public aid car. No effort shall be made by the licensee to assume the custody of a patient before release of custody has been made by the officer in charge. ~ ~ 7~,~ Section 6: RATES - FILING REQUIRED Each ambulance service licensed under this chapter shall, immediately upon the issuance of a license, file with the City Clerk its schedule of rates to be charged for its services, for the duration of the calendar year in which the license is issued. Thereafter, each ambulance service licensed under this chapter shall annually file with the C~ity C~lerk its schedule of rates to be charged for its services. Said annual rates schedule shall be filed on or before the. first day of D~cember.~of~the~ye~rp~e~edingthe year for which the schedule is to be in effect. All rate schedules filed pursuant to this section shall be subject to the review and approval of the City Council. The schedules of rates shall be competitive and a matter of public record and open to public inspection in the office of the City Clerk during normal business hours. Each licensee shall strictly adhere to its schedule throughout the calendar year for which that schedule has been filed; provided, that a licensee may, by writte~ request, seek approval of a revised rate schedule by filing said revised schedule with the City Clerk not less than one full calendar month prior to the effective date of the revised schedule. Said revised rate schedule shall be subject to review and approval of the City Council. It is unlawful for anyone driving, or operating an ambulance, to charge, demand, collect or receive any greater or less rate of fare than those posted with the City Clerk. It is unlawfull for any ambulance operator to give directly or indirectly, or cause to be given, any rebates, commissions, reserve rebates or any reduced rates or cash discounts to any person, or persons, or groups of any nature. Section 7: ADVISORY COMMITTEE A. The mayor shall appoint with the concurrence of the City Cbuncil, an advisory committee composed of the follow- ing persons: The mayor, two duly licensed physicians affiliated with the Harrison Memorial Hospital, one citizen of the City of Bremerton, the chiefs of the Bremerton fire and police depart- ments, and one representative of each ambulance service licensed under this Ordinance. B. The terms of the members of the advisory committee shall be as follows: The mayor, police chief and fire chief--- their respective terms of office; the physicians---four years; provided, that the first physician appointed shall be appointed for a period of two years; the citizen of the City of Bremerton--- two years; and .the representatives of the respective ambulance services---the period of the license granted to the ambulance service under this chapter. C. The advisory committee shall meet at least quar- terly to review and recommend standards and regulations relating to emergency medical services and submit its recommendations in writing at least once a year to the City Council for its approval. Such review may include recommendations for new or ! different equipment and regulations relating to paramedical emergency service and recommend new or different training pro- cedures and the development of new rules and regulations relating to any operation licensed under this chapter; provided, that only such standards and regulations as exceed the provisions of Chapter 18.~3 RCW shall be so adopted. Section 8: VIOLATION - PENALTY It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corpora- tion to operate or attempt to operate an ambulance or ambulance service without first complying with the provisions of this Ordinance, including all standards and regulations adopted by the City Council pursuant to this Ordinance. Any person, firm or corporation~convicted of violating any provisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined in anamo~nt not exceeding five hundred doltars. Each day during which any person, firm, or corporation is in violation of the provisions of this Ordinance shall constitute a separate violation. Section 9: LICENSE REVOCATION. A. The office of the City Clerk, acting by and through the City Clerk o~ the Clerk's duly authorized representative is hereby authorized to suspend or revoke any license issued under this chapter for failure of %he licensee ~o comply with and to maintain compliance with, or for the violation of, any applicable provision, standard or requirement of this chapter or for any regulations promulgated hereunder, or of any other applicable law or ordinance or regulations promulgated thereunder; provided, that prior to any such suspension or revocation, due --7-- notice thereof must have been given unto the licensee; and pro- vided further, that no such suspension or revocation shall be effective unless the licensee still has not complied hereunder after ten days have passed from the giving of said notice. B. Within ten days after any such suspension or revocation the licensee shall, upon his written request, be allowed to petition for a hearing before the City Council and such hearing shall be held not later than thirty days after the date of such suspension, for the purpose of determining adequacy of notice and whether there are sufficient grounds for suspension or revocation. Subsequent to such hearing the Council shall uphold or rescind the suspension or revocation. If the licensee fails to petition for hearing as provided herein, the order of the Clerk shall become final. Section 10: INSPECTION AND REPORTS. A. Each licensee of an ambulance hereunder shall maintain complete and accurate records, which records shall include the transportation of each patient within the city, or from one place within the city to another place within or beyond the city limits. All such records shall be available for inspection by the city Clerk or his duly authorized representa- tive at all reasonable times. B. The provision of subsection A of this section shall likewise apply in case a patient dies before being so transported in such ambulance, or dies while ~being so transported therein, or at any time prior to the delivery of the patient to a hospital or medical or other authority, if the patient is still under the care and responsibility of the ambulance licensee. Section 11: EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL - AVAILABILITY Each licensee under this chapter shall keep available, on a twenty-four hour basis a minimum of three ambulances, in- cluding' sufficient ambulance equipment and personnel. -8- to equip and operate said ambulances. In the event that all available ambulances, equipment, and personnel of an individual licensee are in use, the licensee shall immediately advise the City fire department and CenCom of such condition, and shall further advise that said licensee is unavailable to respond to any emergency until further notification. Section 12: INSPECTION BY CITY An authorized representative of the City shall inspect the records, equi~r~nt, and accessories of all licensees hereunder at least twice annually, said regular inspections to take place during the months of January and July. Additionally, an authorized representative of the City shall conduct individual inspections of licensees within three days of the receipt of any complaint about said licensee. Notwithstanding the above required inspections or any other provision of this chapter, an authorized representative of the city may, at all reasonable times, inspect the records, equ_ i~nent and accessories of any licensee hereunder. The licensee shall pay an inspection fee of Fifty dollars ($50.00) for each semi-annual inspection required under this Chapter. Each licensee shall further pay an inspection fee in the amount of twenty dollars ($20.00) for each inspection prompted by a ccmplaint; provided, hc~ever, that no ccmplaint-prcmpted inspection fee shall be paid where the Chief of the Br~merton Fire Department has determined said cc~plaint to be unwarranted and without substantial merit. All inspection fees shall be due and payable within ten (10) days of the date of the inspection. In case of any lack of compliance with any of the requirements hereunder, or any deficiencies, such licensee shall~ prc~Ptly remedy same or be subject to notice of suspension or revocation pursuant to Section Nine above." Approved by the City Cc~missioners on the first reading this ~ day of ~Z~ , 1981. Passed by the City Cc~nissioners of the City of Bremerton, signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this ~ day of ~/~ , 1981. --9-- ATTEST: KATHL~EEN L. MANDIO, 'City Cl-~r~ -10-