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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 80-75 ORDINANCE NO. D 7� ENTITLED AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 29 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT TO AMEND THE REQUIREMENT FOR PERSONNEL IDENTIFICATIONS CARDS; PROVIDING A PROCEDURE FOR SUSPENSION OF AMBULANCE PERMITS; PROVIDING A PROCEDURE FOR REVOCATION AND SUSPENSION OF AMBULANCE DRIVERS' LICENSES; REQUIRING NOTIFICATION OF THE LOCATION OF EACH AMBULANCE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. WHEREAS, radio communication between the City and ambulances operating within the City will promote faster and more efficient emergency ambulance service for the citizens of the City; and, WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the citizens for the city to purchase and own the radio equipment used in privately owned ambulances to communicate with the city; NOW , THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF BEAUMONT: Section 1 . That the City of Beaumont will purchase and provide to ambulances permitted under Chapter 29 of the Code of Ordinances radio equipment to provide two-way communication with the City. The communication system will be used to dispatch ambulances where needed and to maintain data concerning the status of each permitted ambulance. Section 2. THAT Chapter 29 , Section 29-26 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 29-26 . All ambulance personnel shall wear an identification card issued by the health authority. This card shall specify the degree of his or her training. The identification card shall be subject to recall by the health authority upon the expiration of the certification provided in Section 29-33. A holder shall surrender his or her card to the health authority upon expiration of certification. Section 3 . THAT Chapter 29 , Section 29-30 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 29-30 . An ambulance permit may be suspended by the health authority for any period of time from one ( 1) day to thirty (30) days, or may be revoked. The health authority shall give written notice of suspension or revocation to the holder of an ambulance permit. The notice of suspension shall include the dates of the proposed suspension and the reasons therefore. The notice of revocation shall include the reasons for the proposed revocation. The holder of an ambulance permit may request a hearing by written notice to the health authority within five (5 ) days of the receipt of notice of suspension or revocation. Upon receipt of a written request for hearing, the health authority shall notify the permit holder of the time and place for a hearing to be held not less than five (5) nor more than fifteen ( 15) days after receipt of request for hearing. After hearing, the health authority may , upon a finding that one or more grounds for revocation or suspension exists, revoke or suspend the permit. If no ground for revocation or suspension is found by the health authority, he shall overrule the revocation or suspension. A record shall be made of any hearing held under this section, and all costs associated with such hearing and record shall be paid by the permit holder. Impossibility of performance shall be the only defense to revocation for failing to send an ambulance when requested to transport a sick or injured person from a location within the city to an emergency medical facility within the city. The health authority shall render his decision in writing within ten ( 10) days of the conclusion of the hearing. The following shall be grounds for revocation or suspension of an ambulance permit by the health authority: 2 - (a) The permit holder or an employer or any employee of the permit holder has violated any provision of this chapter; (b) The permit holder or an employer or an employee of the permit holder has used information received from a broadcast on the emergency radio frequency of the police or fire department for his own benefit, or the benefit of another person, in connection with the operation of an ambulance; (c) The permit holder or owner of the ambulance for which the permit is issued has allowed a person not holding a valid City of Beaumont ambulance driver's license to operate the ambulance for the purpose of transporting a sick or injured person or persons on the public streets of the City; (d) The permit holder or an employer or employee of the permit holder has, in the provision of ambulance service, violated the zoning ordinance of the City of Beaumont. Section 4 . THAT Chapter 29 , Section 29-34 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 29-34 . An ambulance driver' s license may be suspended for any period of time from one (1) day to thirty (30) days, or may be revoked. The health authority may suspend an ambulance driver' s license for any violation of this article. The health authority - 3 - may revoke or suspend an ambulance driver' s license upon a finding that the licensee has been convicted of violating any provision of this article or upon conviction of a moving violation of the traffic laws of the State of Texas, or the City of Beaumont, provided such moving violation occurs while the violator is driving or operating an ambulance, or the driver no longer meets the requirements of Section 29-33 of this article. Upon suspension or revocation of an ambulance driver' s license the health authority shall give written notice to the holder of the ambulance driver' s license. The notice shall state the reasons for the proposed revocation or suspension and that the holder of the license that he may request a hearing. The holder of an ambulance drivers license may request a hearing within five days of the receipt of notice of suspension or revocation. The health authority shall conduct a hearing within fifteen (15) days of the request and may approve the suspension or revocation upon a finding that grounds for suspension or revocation exist under this article or may overrule the suspension. Should a hearing be requested in accordance with this article, the suspension or revocation shall be delayed pending the final decision of the health authority which said decision shall be final. Section 5 . THAT Chapter 29 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 29-31. Appeal of the decision to revoke or suspend an ambulance permit by the health authority shall be made to the City Council and shall be heard only upon the record made of the hearing before the health authority. The substantial evidence rule shall apply. The City Council shall hear said appeal upon receipt of a request in writing for such appeal received within fifteen (15 ) days after the date of the decision of revocation by the health authority. The record of the hearing before the health authority shall be attached as a part of the request for appeal to the City Council. The decision of the City Council shall be final. 4 - Section 6 . THAT Chapter 29 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Beaumont is hereby amended by adding a new Section 29-35 to read as follows: Section 29-35 . A permit holder shall at all times notify the health authority by radio of the location of each permitted ambulance and whether the ambulance is available for service; provided however, that notice of changes in location need not be made while the ambulance is moving. Section 7 . Section 6 of this ordinance shall be and become effective on the lst day of October , 1980. Section 8 . That if any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance, or the application of same to a particular set of persons or circumstances, should for any reason be held to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining portions of this ordinance, and to such end the various portions and provisions of this ordinance are declared to be severable. Section 9 . All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are repealed to the extent of the conflict only. Section 10 . Any person who violates any provision of this ordinance shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided in Section 1-8 of the Code of Ordinances of Beaumont, Texas. PASSED BY THE C TY COUNCIL of the City of Beaumont this the r" day of , 1980. May r 5 - ARTICLE II. AMBULANCES* Sec. 29-20. Definitions. (As used in this article, the following terms shall have the respective meanings ascribed to them: ) Ambulance. Any vehicle used, designed or redesigned for the purpose of transporting the sick or injured. Ambulance permit. The permit issued under section 29-22 of this article. Health authority. The city manager of the City of Beaumont or his designee. Street. By the term "street" is meant the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. Sec. 29-21 . Operating ambulance without permit. No person shall drive or operate an ambulance for the purpose of transporting the sick or injured for hire upon the public streets of the City of Beaumont unless there is attached to the windshield of such ambulance a valid ambulance permit issued for such ambulance by the health authority. There shall be exempted from the provisions of the permit and license requirements of this article those ambulances who transport clients from a location outside the City of Beaumont into the City of Beaumont and who transport clients only through the City of Beaumont. Section 29-22. Ambulance permit; application. Every person, partnership or corporation desiring to obtain an ambulance permit shall make application in writing on a form provided by the city for that purpose to the health authority. Such application shall contain the name, address, and telephone number of the applicant, the owner of the ambulance for which the permit is to be issued, and the address and telephone number of the applicant, the owner of the ambulance for which the permit is to be issued, and the address and telephone number of the location from which ambulance service will be originated. The application shall also show the make, model, motor number, and correct state license number of the ambulance for which a permit is being requested. Every application when filed shall be sworn to by the applicant and shall be accompanied by a permit fee of twelve dollars ($ 12.00) . No permit shall be transferable and every permit shall expire one year from the date of issuance. Sec. 29-23. Conditions for issuance of ambulance permit. No ambulance permit shall be issued: (a) Insurance. Unless there is full force and effect a policy or policies of public liability and property damage insurance, issued by a casualty insurance company authorized to do business in the State of Texas, and in the standard form approved by the board of insurance commissioners of the State of Texas, with coverage provisions insuring the public from any loss or damage that may arise to any person or property by reason of the operation of the ambulance for which the permit is issued, and providing that the amount of recovery shall be in limits not less than the following sums : (1) For damages arising out of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, one hundred thousand dollars ($100 ,000.00) ; (2) For damages arising out of bodily injury to or death of two (2 ) or more persons in any one accident, three hundred thousand dollars ($300, 000.00) ; 2 - (3) For any injury to or destruction of property in any one accident, twenty- five thousand dollars ($25 ,000.00) ; and, the health authority shall be furnished with current insurance certificate certifying that such a policy as specified above is in full force and effect. Such certificate shall also provide that the City of Beaumont will be given ten (10) days notice of any cancellation. (b) Taxes. If any delinquent taxes are due the city upon any ambulance operated in the applicant' s ambulance business; (c) State permit. Unless the applicant has been issued a permit by the state board of health pursuant to Article 4590b of Vernon' s Annotated Texas Civil Statutes; (d) Revocation of prior permit. If the applicant, an employer or any employee of the applicant, or any person residentially domiciled with the applicant, an employer or any employee of the applicant has had an ambulance permit revoked within one year preceding the date of application; (e) Radio. If a shortwave radio receiving device attuned to the radio frequency of the police department or the radio frequency of the police department or the radio frequency of the fire department is in such ambulance. Sec. 29-24. Equipment. As a minimum requirement, every ambulance for which an ambulance permit is issued shall be equipped with the equipment required by the rules and regulations of the Texas Department of Health Resources for a state ambulance permit and for Texas Ambulance Registry. Such equipment shall be permanently labeled 3 - in some manner so as to indicate that the equipment is owned by the ambulance company whose ambulance is being inspected. The rules and regulations of the Texas Department of Health concerning equipment on ambulances are incorporated by reference as if set out in full at this point. Sec. 29-25. Licensed personnel. Every ambulance, when in service, shall be manned with at least two (2 ) personnel. One such person must be the holder of a current red cross card certifying that the holder thereof has passed the advanced red cross first aid course. The second attendant must be the holder of a current emergency medical technician certificate and must be trained in standard cardio pulmonary resuscitation procedures approved by the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association with a minimum of eight (8 ) hours training. Both personnel must possess a valid City of Beaumont ambulance driver' s license issued under the authority of this article. Only authorized personnel shall be allowed in the ambulance at any time. This does not apply to family members of the injured. Sec. 29-26. Personnel identification card. All ambulance personnel shall wear an identification card issued by the health authority. This card shall specify the degree of his or her training. The identification card shall be subject to recall by the health authority upon the expiration of the certification provided in Section 29-33. A holder shall surrender his or her card to the health authority upon expiration of certification. *DELETES PHOTOGRAPH ON IDENTIFICATION CARD Sec. 29-27. Communications. Every ambulance shall be equipped with a fully operational two-way radio communications system. This system shall have a minimum of two (2) frequencies, one of which shall be attuned to a frequency assigned to a hospital or hospitals within the City of - 4 - Beaumont having emergency medical facilities. This section shall be and become effective from and after September 1, 1978. Sec. 29-28 . Transport of injured of ill persons. Ambulances shall be required to transfer patients in a prompt and safe manner. The holder of an ambulance permit shall be required to send an ambulance, in each instance in which an ambulance is requested, to transport a sick or injured person from a location within the city to an emergency medical facility within the city. Ambulances involved in emergency calls shall travel at a speed no greater than ten (10 ) miles per hour above the legal speed limit. Sec. 29-29. Ambulance inspection. Each ambulance for which a permit is issued shall be inspected at least once every twelve ( 12) months to determine compliance with this article. As many additional inspections as are determined to be necessary by the health authority may be made to insure enforcement of this article. Sec. 29-30. Revocation of ambulance permit. An ambulance permit may be suspended by the health authority for any period of time from one (1) day to thirty (30) days , or may be revoked. The health authority shall give written notice of suspension or revocation to the holder of an ambulance permit. The notice of suspension shall include the dates of the proposed suspension and the reasons therefore. The notice of revocation shall include the reasons for the proposed revocation. The holder of an ambulance permit may request a hearing by written notice to the health authority within five (5 ) days of the receipt of notice of suspension or revocation. Upon receipt of a written request for hearing, the health authority shall notify the permit holder of the time and place for a hearing to be held not less than five (5 ) nor more than fifteen ( 15) days after receipt of request for hearing. After hearing, the health authority may , #PROVIDES FOR TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS - 5 - upon a finding that one or more grounds for revocation or suspension exists, revoke or suspend the permit. If no ground for revocation or suspension is found by the health authority , he shall overrule the revocation or suspension. A record shall be made of any hearing held under this section, and all costs associated with such hearing and record shall be paid by the permit holder. Impossibility of performance shall be the only defense to revocation for failing to send an ambulance when requested to transport a sick or injured person from a location within the city to an emergency medical facility within the city. The health authority shall render his decision in writing within ten ( 10) days of the conclusion of the hearing. The following shall be grounds for revocation or suspension of an ambulance permit by the health authority: (a) The permit holder or an employer or any employee of the permit holder has violated any provision of this chapter; (b) The permit holder or an employer or an employee of the permit holder has used information received from a broadcast on the emergency radio frequency of the police or fire department for his own benefit, or the benefit of another person, in connection with the operation of an ambulance; (c) The permit holder or owner of the ambulance for which the permit is issued has allowed a person not holding a valid City of Beaumont ambulance driver' s license to operate the ambulance for the purpose of transporting a sick or injured person or persons on the public streets of the City; - 6 - (d) The permit holder or an employer or employee of the permit holder has, in the provision of ambulance service, violated the zoning ordinance of the City of Beaumont. Sec. 29-31. Appeal. Appeal of the decision to revoke or suspend an ambulance permit by the health authority shall be made to the City Council and shall be heard only upon the record made of the hearing before the health authority. The substantial evidence rule shall apply . The City Council shall hear said appeal upon receipt of a request in writing for such appeal received within fifteen (15 ) days after the date of the decision of revocation by the health authority. The record of the hearing before the health authority shall be attached as a part of the request for appeal to the City Council. The decision of the City Council shall be final. ADDED Sec. 29-32. Ambulance driver' s license required. No person shall operate or drive an ambulance for the purpose of transporting the sick or injured for hire upon the public streets of the City of Beaumont unless he has been issued a City of Beaumont ambulance driver' s license issued by the health authority. Sec. 29-33. Application for ambulance driver' s license. Application for a City of Beaumont ambulance driver' s license shall be made in writing to the health authority on a form provided for that purpose. Such application shall give the name, address and telephone number of the applicant. The applicant must be eighteen (18 ) years old, the holder of a valid Texas Chauffeur' s License and must either be the holder of a current red cross card certifying that he has passed the advanced red cross first aid course or exhibit proof that he has passed an emergency care attendant course or exhibit proof of formal medical training - 7 - acceptable to the health authority. No person shall be eligible for a City of Beaumont ambulance driver' s license who has been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude within the past ten ( 10 ) years. Such application must be signed and sworn to before a notary public. Every application when filed shall be accompanied by a license fee of five dollars ($5.00) . No license shall be transferable and every license shall expire one year from the date of issuance. Sec. 29-34. Revocation of ambulance driver' s license. An ambulance driver' s license may be suspended for any period of time from one (1) day to thirty (30) days , or may be revoked. The health authority may suspend an ambulance driver' s license for any violation of this article. The health authority may revoke or suspend an ambulance driver' s license upon a finding that the licensee has been convicted of violating any provision of this article or upon conviction of a moving violation of the traffic laws of the State of Texas, or the City of Beaumont, provided such moving violation occurs while the violator is driving or operating an ambulance, or the driver no longer meets the requirements of Section 29-33 of this article. Upon** suspension or revocation of an ambulance driver' s license the health authority shall give written notice to the holder of the ambulance driver' s license. The notice shall state the reasons for the proposed revocation or suspension and that the holder of the license that he may request a hearing. The holder of an ambulance drivers license may request a hearing within five days of the receipt of notice of suspension or revocation. The health authority shall conduct a hearing within fifteen (15) days of the request and may approve the suspension or revocation upon a finding that grounds for suspension or revocation exist under this article or may overrule the suspension. Should a hearing be *PROVIDES FOR TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS **ESTABLISHES APPEALS PROCEDURE - 8 - requested in accordance with this article, the suspension or revocation shall be delayed pending the final decision of the health authority which said decision shall be final. Sec. 29-35. A permit holder shall at all times notify the health authority by radio of the location of each permitted ambulance and whether the ambulance is available for service; provided however, that notice of changes in location need not be made while the ambulance is moving. ADDED 9 -