OAR 333-255-0000: Definitions

(1) "Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT or Advanced EMT)" means a person who is licensed by the Oregon Health Authority as an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician. (2) "Agent" has the meaning given that term in OAR 847-035-0001. (3) "Ambulance" or "Ambulance vehicle" means a privately or publicly owned motor vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft that is regularly provided or offered to be provided for the emergency transportation of persons who are ill or injured or who have disabilities. (4) "Ambulance-based clinician": (a) Means a registered nurse, physician, or physician associate who: (A) Has an active license in Oregon and is in good standing with the Oregon Board of Nursing or the Oregon Medical Board; and (B) Staffs an ambulance for a licensed ambulance service. (b) Includes an EMS medical director or agent that staffs an ambulance. (5) "Ambulance service" means a person, governmental unit, or other entity that operates ambulance(s) and that holds itself out as providing prehospital care or medical transportation to persons who are ill or injured or who have disabilities. (6) "Ambulance service administrator" means an individual responsible for the professional, supervisory and administrative work in the operation of the ambulance service and its staff. (7) "Ambulance service area (ASA)" means a geographic area served by one ambulance service provider, and may include all or portion of a county, or all or portions of two or more contiguous counties. (8) "Ambulance service license" means the documents issued by the Authority to the owner of an ambulance service licensee when the service is found to be in compliance with ORS chapter 682; OAR chapter 333, division 250 and these rules. (9) "Ambulance service licensee" means the person or owner as defined under this rule, to whom the ambulance service license is issued. (10) "Ambulance service plan" has the meaning given that term in OAR 333-260-0010. (11) "Ambulance service plan administrator" means an individual responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, and maintenance of an ambulance service plan. (12) "Ambulance service provider" means an ambulance service licensed under these rules that responds to 9-1-1 dispatched calls or provides prearranged non-emergency transfers or emergency or non-emergency interfacility transfers. (13) "Authority" means the Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Systems Program, within the Oregon Health Authority. (14) "Business day" means Monday through Friday when the Authority is open for business, excluding holidays. (15) "County governing body" means a Board of County Commissioners or a County Court. (16) "Electronic patient care report (ePCR)" means an electronic field data format that is completed by an EMS provider or ambulance-based clinician for all patients receiving prehospital assessment, care or transportation to a medical facility. (17) "Emergency care" means the performance of acts or procedures under emergency conditions in the observation, care and counsel of persons who are ill, or injured or who have disabilities; in the administration of care or medications prescribed by a licensed physician or naturopathic physician, insofar as any of these acts is based upon knowledge and application of the principles of biological, physical and social science as required by a completed course utilizing an approved curriculum in prehospital emergency care. "Emergency care" does not include acts of medical diagnosis or prescription of therapeutic or corrective measures. (18) "EMS" means emergency medical services. (19) "EMS medical director" has the same meaning as "supervising physician" in OAR 847-035-0001. (20) "Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)" means a person who is licensed by the Authority as an Emergency Medical Responder. (21) "Emergency medical services provider (EMS provider)" has the meaning given that term in ORS 682.025. (22) "Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)" means a person who is licensed by the Authority as an Emergency Medical Technician. (23) "EMT-Intermediate" means a person who is licensed by the Authority as an EMT-Intermediate. (24) "Employee" means any full-time paid or part-time paid person acting within the scope of their duties and for or on behalf of an ambulance service. (25) "Governmental unit" means the state or any county, municipality or other political subdivision or any department, board or other agency of any of them. (26) "In operation" means the time beginning with the initial response of the ambulance and ending when the ambulance is available to respond to another request for service. An ambulance that transports a patient becomes available to respond when the care of the patient has been transferred. (27) "Neonate to adult" means appropriately sized equipment to fit neonate, infant, pediatric, and adult patients. (28) "Non-emergency care" means the performance of acts or procedures on a patient who is not expected to die, become permanently disabled or suffer permanent harm within the next 24-hours, including but not limited to observation, care and counsel of a patient and the administration of medications prescribed by a physician licensed under ORS chapter 677, or naturopathic physician licensed under ORS chapter 685 insofar as any of those acts are based upon knowledge and application of the principles of biological, physical and social science and are performed in accordance with scope of practice rules adopted by the Oregon Medical Board or Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine in the course of providing prehospital care as defined in this rule. (29) "Owner" means the person or governmental unit having all the incidents of ownership in an ambulance service or an ambulance vehicle or, where the incidents of ownership are in different persons, the person, other than a security interest holder or lessor, entitled to the possession of an ambulance vehicle or operation of an ambulance service under a security agreement or a lease for a term of 10 or more successive days. (30) "Paramedic" means a person who is licensed by the Authority as a Paramedic. (31) "Patient" means a person who is ill or injured or who has a disability and who receives emergency or nonemergency care from an EMS provider. (32) "Person" has the meaning given that term in ORS 174.100. (33) "Physician" means a person licensed under ORS chapter 677, actively registered and in good standing with the Oregon Medical Board as a Medical Doctor (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). (34) "Physician Associate (PA)" means a person licensed under ORS chapter 677, actively registered and in good standing with the Oregon Medical Board. (35) "Prehospital care" means care rendered by EMS providers as an incident of the operation of an ambulance and care rendered by EMS providers as incidents of other public or private safety duties, and includes, but is not limited to "emergency care" as defined in this rule. (36) "Procedure" means a written, dated and signed course of action to carry out a directive. A procedure must be able to answer the questions; who, what, why, when and where. (37) "Qualified driver" means someone who is not licensed by the Authority and who meets Authority requirements to operate a ground ambulance vehicle. (38) "Registered Nurse (RN)" means a person licensed under ORS chapter 678, actively registered and in good standing with the Oregon Board of Nursing. (39) "Remount" means an existing patient compartment module that has been installed on a replacement chassis, other than the original production chassis as provided as new by the original Final Stage Ambulance Manufacturer (FSAM). (40) "Rural ambulance service" means ambulance service located in an area where all geographic areas are 10 or more miles from the centroid of a population center of 40,000 or more. (41) "Sanitary" means being free from all body fluids, dirt, dust, grease or other extraneous matter. (42) "Scope of practice" means the maximum level of emergency or non-emergency care that an EMS provider may provide in accordance with OAR chapter 847, division 35. (43) "Specialty care transport (SCT)" means interfacility transportation of a critically injured or ill patient by a ground ambulance vehicle, including medically necessary supplies and service. SCT is necessary when a patient's condition requires ongoing care that must be furnished by one or more health professionals in an appropriate specialty area, for example, emergency or critical care nursing, emergency medicine, respiratory care, or cardiovascular care, or a Paramedic with additional specialized training. Any skill or medication in addition to or not found in the National Education Standards for Paramedics would be defined as additional training and is defined by the EMS medical director. (44) "Standing orders" means the written detailed procedures for medical or trauma emergencies and nonemergency care to be performed by an EMS provider issued by an EMS medical director in conformance with the scope of practice and level of licensure of the EMS provider. (45) "These rules" means OAR 333-255-0000 through 333-255-0125. (46) "Transitional Paramedic" means a person who is licensed by the Authority as a Transitional Paramedic. (47) "Volunteer" means a person who is not compensated for their time to staff an ambulance or EMS agency, but who may receive reimbursement for personal expenses incurred.