Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General ANTHONY M. SUMMERS Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE KEVIN MURRAY, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a local emergency medical services agency charge a fee for the reaccreditation of an emergency medical technician-paramedic? CONCLUSION A local emergency medical services agency may charge a fee for the reaccreditation of an emergency medical technician-paramedic only if the person's accreditation is no longer in effect. ANALYSIS In 1980 (Stats. 1980, ch. 1260, § 7) the Legislature enacted the Emergency Medical Services System and Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act (Health Saf. Code, §§ 1797 - 1799.297; "Act") 1 to govern the provision of emergency medical services ("EMS") to individuals prior to their admission to a hospital. The Act created the Emergency Medical Services Authority ("Authority") as a state agency (§ 1797.100 ) with the power to adopt regulations implementing the Act (§ 1797.107 ; see Cal. Code of Regs., tit. 22, §§ 22:100000.1 - 22:100334 ). 2 The Act authorizes each county to develop an EMS program by creating a local…