Consistent with the authority granted by state law, including RCW 35.21.766 and 35.27.370(15), as now existing or hereafter amended, the medical and ambulance public utility established by the city in 1976 as Chapter 2.60 RMC, subsequently amended to be Chapter 13.04 RMC, and as amended, is hereby reauthorized, ratified and continued as a public utility of the city to be known hereafter as the medical and ambulance service utility. The regulation of emergency medical and ambulance services is established as an exercise of the police power of the city of Richland to protect and preserve the public health, safety and welfare. The emergency medical services program is accordingly amended, reauthorized, ratified and continued, and for purposes of this chapter, shall be referred to as the "EMS program."
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
"Advanced life support" or "ALS"
means invasive emergency medical services requiring advanced medical treatment skills as defined in WAC 388-546-0001.
"Ambulance"
means a ground vehicle designed and used to transport the ill and injured and to provide personnel, facilities, and equipment to treat patients before and during transportation.
"Ambulance service" or "ambulance operator"
means an agency, public or private, that operates one or more ambulances, responding to a 911 or aid call for service within the city, including advanced life support, basic life support and transport services.
"Availability costs"
means those costs attributable to the basic infrastructure needed to respond to a single call for service within the utility's response criteria, including costs for dispatch, labor, training of personnel, equipment, patient care supplies, and maintenance of equipment.
"Basic life support" or "BLS"
means noninvasive emergency medical services requiring basic medical treatment skills as defined in WAC 388-546-0001.
"Demand costs"
means those costs attributable to the burden placed on the ambulance service by individual calls for ambulance service, including costs related to frequency of calls, distances from hospitals, and other factors identified in a cost-of-service study conducted to assess burdens imposed on the utility.
"Emergency medical care" or "emergency medical service,"
collectively "EMS," means medical treatment and care that may be rendered at the scene of any medical emergency or while transporting any patient in an ambulance to an appropriate medical facility, including ALS and BLS.
"Emergency medical technician" or "EMT"
means a person who is authorized by the Secretary of the Department of Health to render emergency medical care pursuant to RCW 18.73.081.
"Emergency prehospital care personnel"
means personnel certified to provide emergency medical care under Chapters 18.71 and 18.73 RCW.
"EMS personnel"
means any person who is acting on behalf of the Richland fire department and who has been certified as a paramedic or emergency medical technician.
"EMS program"
means the provision of emergency medical services by the Richland fire and emergency services department.
"First responder"
means a person who is authorized by the Secretary of the Department of Health to render emergency medical care pursuant to RCW 18.73.081.
"Occupant"
means a person who is employed by a Richland business at a Richland business location or is a tenant of a Richland property or business.
"Operating an ambulance"
means the use of an ambulance in any of the following manners:
A. 
An ambulance stationed within the city.
B. 
An ambulance dispatched from within or without the Richland city limits which repeatedly or customarily makes trips for hire to pick up the sick or injured from within the city.
"Paramedic"
means a person who is authorized by the Secretary of the Department of Health to render emergency medical care pursuant to RCW 18.71.205.
"Patient"
means an individual who is sick, injured, wounded, or otherwise incapacitated or helpless.
"Person"
means any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, group of individuals acting together for a common purpose, or organization of any kind, including a government agency.
"Place of business"
means a business located and operating within the city and paying a service fee under this chapter.
"Resident"
means a person who utilizes a dwelling unit inside the city as a fixed abode, and is not a guest, visitor, or other temporary inhabitant. A student who is regularly enrolled in an educational institution outside the city but who would normally and regularly be a city resident but for attendance at such educational institution, shall be deemed to reside within the city.
"Response time"
means the time from the ambulance service being notified by dispatch to arrival of the ambulance on scene.
"Secretary"
means the Secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
"Service fee"
means the service fee levied by the utility upon residents and occupants within the boundaries of the city.
"Southeast Communications" or "SECOMM"
means the police/fire/EMS dispatch center located within the city of Richland.
"System"
means the entire system of ambulance services provided by the utility or over which the utility has regulatory control by virtue of contract, franchise, or other service agreement or arrangement legally recognized by the city.
"Utility"
means the city of Richland, Washington, emergency medical and ambulance service utility, including without limitation all equipment, employees, agents, supplies, overhead and other associated costs incurred to deliver all regulatory and ambulance services.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
A. 
The purpose of the utility is to regulate users and providers of all ambulance services within the city, including:
1. 
The monitoring and enforcement of industry standards as set forth in applicable chapters of the Revised Code of Washington (and the Washington Administrative Code);
2. 
The establishment and management of protocols relating to emergency and nonemergency medical services originating in the city of Richland, inclusive of response and transport protocols;
3. 
Ensuring a planned, cooperative effort between medical and transport services to benefit citizens and patients in the city of Richland; and
4. 
The provision of 24-hour ALS service within the city.
B. 
Incidental to the regulation of EMS, the utility is to:
1. 
Collect the fees imposed to assist in paying for the regulatory scheme authorized by this chapter;
2. 
Assist in paying for the particular benefits conferred upon residents and other occupants within the city; and
3. 
Mitigate the burdens on the EMS system by the different users of the system.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
The utility shall have the authority, by and through the city manager or his/her designee, to collect and spend fee revenue authorized in this chapter in amounts sufficient to regulate, operate, and maintain the utility.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
The city manager, or his/her designee, is hereby authorized to promulgate any and all regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter for all public and private ambulance providers. Each ambulance service shall comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations, procedures, and protocols, including but not limited to those that are specific to ambulances, ambulance service, ambulance equipment, and ambulance personnel. These regulations are filed with the office of the Richland city clerk and are as may be amended from time to time.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
A person may not conduct or operate an ambulance service within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining from the city both a business license under Chapter 5.04 RMC and an ambulance service permit pursuant to this chapter. Applications for an ambulance service permit must be made in writing to the fire chief on forms specified by the department. The fire chief shall not issue an ambulance service permit unless the applicant has fulfilled all requirements of this chapter and any applicable provisions of state law relating to ambulance service personnel, equipment and operations, including but not limited to the provisions of Chapter 18.73 RCW and Chapter 246-976 WAC as now or hereafter amended.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
Any ambulance service permit issued hereunder shall be for the calendar year, unless suspended or revoked pursuant to this chapter. Such ambulance service permit may be renewed for each calendar year upon filing and approval of permit application in accordance with RMC § 13.06.060 and payment of the annual permit fee required by RMC § 13.06.080.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
At the time the ambulance service permit application and any subsequent permit renewal application is filed with the fire chief, the applicant shall pay a fee to the city to cover the cost of processing the application. The permit fee shall be $25.00.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
An initial application and any subsequent renewal application for an ambulance service permit shall be filed with the fire chief and shall be made on forms provided by the department and shall contain the following information and documents:
A. 
Name, address and telephone number of the applicant. The agency administrator's name and contact number(s) must be kept current. Any change(s) must be conveyed to the department within five working days.
B. 
Business name under which the ambulance service shall operate within the city.
C. 
The number of ambulances to be initially placed in service within the city.
D. 
The number of certified EMTs initially to be employed.
E. 
A roster of all ambulances to be used in the city with proof that each ambulance is currently licensed as an ambulance by the state of Washington.
F. 
A roster of all certified EMTs with proof that each EMT is currently certified by the state of Washington, including the certification level and expiration date.
G. 
Proof that ambulances and personnel are verified trauma providers as provided in Chapter 246-976 WAC as now or hereafter amended, as applicable.
H. 
A schedule of rates.
I. 
Proof of insurance.
Prior to the issuance of the ambulance service permit, the application and all necessary records and documents shall be reviewed and all equipment proposed for use shall be inspected by the fire chief, or his/her designee, who shall determine whether said records, documents, and equipment conform to the requirements of this chapter, and any rules or regulations referenced herein or issued hereunder. Upon approval of the application, the fire chief shall issue an ambulance service permit to the applicant.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)
For each ambulance provider permitted pursuant to the terms of this chapter, a business license or a reasonable facsimile thereof shall be prominently displayed at the place of business, and produced upon request.
(Ord. 28-06; Ord. 2023-28 § 2)