Solano County Critical of Overhaul of EMT Oversight
A Solano County official has sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) petitioning him not to sign a bill that no longer would allow county regulators to discipline emergency medical technicians, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Michael Frenn, the county's Emergency Medical Services administrator, writes in his Sept. 28 letter to the governor that AB 941 "very narrowly, too narrowly, defines conditions and circumstances under which an EMT may be disciplined."
The measure, by Assembly member Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont), would require mandatory background checks for all EMTs in California and create a statewide EMT registry.
While Frenn commended those components of the legislation, he said the removal of counties' disciplinary powers make the bill "not an improvement over the status quo."
Frenn noted that other provisions in the bill place too much responsibility on employers to take disciplinary action, instead of allowing counties to do so.
Aaron McLear, a Schwarzenegger spokesperson, said the governor's staff still needs "to go through [the measure], word by word, to see what people said was in it, and compare it to what's actually in it, so we can form an opinion."
Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto legislation (McIntosh, Sacramento Bee, 10/6).