Esta ley enmienda la Ley Núm. 310 de 25 de diciembre de 2002, que crea la Junta Examinadora de Técnicos de Emergencias Médicas de Puerto Rico. La enmienda permite a la Junta renovar la licencia provisional de los Técnicos de Emergencias Médicas (EMT-P y EMT-B) por un término adicional de un (1) año, siempre y cuando hayan tomado el examen de reválida al menos una vez durante la vigencia de su licencia provisional. El propósito es garantizar la continuidad del servicio de emergencias médicas y permitir que los técnicos con licencia provisional mantengan sus empleos mientras obtienen la licencia permanente.
(Approved April 22, 2004)
To amend Section 18 of Act No. 310 of December 25, 2002, which creates the Board of Examiners of the Emergency Medical Technicians of Puerto Rico, to provide that the Board may renew their provisional license for an additional term of one (1) year for every EMT-P and EMT-B that has taken the revalidation examination at least once, during their effective provisional license year.
The Emergency Medical Technicians professional class is continually limited due to multiple reasons. In its awareness of this situation, this Legislature became engaged in the task of creating the needed legal mechanisms through which these Technicians can work with a provisional license while they obtain their permanent license.
At present we have 214 technicians holding Emergency Medical Technician positions with provisional licenses that will expire on April 16, 2004. Most of them have not been able to obtain their permanent license for several reasons, such as work, personal, as well as circumstantial reasons which have prevented them from training properly to obtain it.
The Medical Emergency Corps has the responsibility of providing prehospital care and emergency transportation to the population of Puerto Rico. In order to fulfill this task we must have an adequate number of technical
personnel to meet the demand for and continuity of the service. If we can not have this personnel available after April 16, 2004, this agency will face a critical situation, since this will mean a significant loss in the number of members of this group of professionals and we could not depend on enough personnel to meet the demand for this service.
Therefore, this amendment is created to extend the effectiveness of the provisional licenses for an additional year for all those candidates who have taken the revalidation examination during the effectiveness of their provisional license. This amendment guarantees, in the absence of more immediate remedies of this problem, the continuity of the service to the Puerto Rican population, and the opportunity for 214 Emergency Medical Technicians, who at present do not have permanent licenses and are employees of the Medical Emergencies Corps, to keep their jobs. Otherwise, the quality and safety of the emergency services would be affected due to the lack of personnel to cover the shifts for this service.
Section 1.- Section 18 of Act No. 310 of December 25, 2002, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 18.- Provisional Licenses It is hereby established that all EMT-Ps and EMT-Bs who have pursued studies in an accredited educational institution, based on the curricula of the US Department of Transportation, shall be entitled to apply for a provisional license with a maximum effectiveness of one (1) year, provided he/she has applied to take the revalidation examination, and has met all the requirements to request the same.
Provided, further, that the Board may renew the Provisional License for an additional period of one year. In order to be entitled to this additional
period, all EMT-Ps and EMT-Bs must have taken the revalidation examination at least once, during the effectiveness of their provisional license."
Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 93 (H.B. 4513) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Section 18 of Act No. 310 of December 25, 2002, which creates the Board of Examiners of the Emergency Medical Technicians of Puerto Rico, to provide that the Board may renew their provisional license for an additional term of one (1) year for every EMT-P and EMT-B that has taken the revalidation examination at least once, during their effective provisional license year, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $3^{ ext {rd }}$ of August of 2005.
Francisco J. Domenech Director