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Ordinance 1735ORDINANCE NO. 1735 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, AMENDING CHAPTER 4.08 OF THE EDMONDS CITY CODE TO PERMIT LICENSED PRIVATELY OWNED AMBULANCE COMPANIES TO INTERCEPT POLICE AND FIRE CALLS; PROHIBITING SAID COMPANIES FROM RESPONDING ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS UNLESS EXPRESSLY DIRECTED; PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION OF SAID RATE SCHEDULES AND THE PRIOR APPROVAL OF SAID SCHEDULES BY THE STATE OF WASHING - TON AND THE CITY; REQUIRING THAT AT ALL TIMES THERE BE TWO (2) ATTENDANTS, ONE TRAINED AS AN EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN (EMT) AND ONE (1) WITH ADVANCED FIRST AID TRAINING; SETTING FORTH GUIDELINES FOR DETERMINING WHO WILL TRANSPORT INJURED OR ILL VICTIMS AND REQUIRING THE MAINTENANCE OF CERTAIN PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE LIMITS. WHEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Edmonds, Washington, has reviewed the problems created by more than one emergency vehicle responding to the scene of an accident or other emergency and, WHEREAS, it is in the public health, safety and general welfare that certain minimum standards be required of private ambulance companies with respect to the expertise of their personnel, the adequacy of liability insurance and the adequacy of their equipment, now, therefore, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Section 4.08.060 of the Edmonds City Code is hereby amended to read as follows: "4.08.060 Insurance -- No license or inspection certificates shall be issued under this chapter nor shall any ambulance be operated in this City, unless there is at all times in full force and effect, insurance coverage issued by an insurance company licensed to do business in the State of Washington, for each and every ambulance to be operated under the license, and attendant riding in or operating said ambulance, providing for public liability insurance in the amount of one million dollars for personal injuries to any person or persons arising out of each accident or occurrence and property damage insurance in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars for each accident or occurrence. Evidence of insurance policies for the full -term of the license shall be submitted to the City Clerk at time of application for license. Such evidence shall be a certificate from the licensee's insurance company that the insurance exists, shall name the City of Edmonds as an additional insured and provide specifically that the insurance will not be cancelled without written notice having been delivered to the City Clerk not less than ten (10) days prior to the effective date of said cancellation. In the event of a cancellation of a licensee's insurance policy required to be carried hereunder, and said licensee does not obtain a replacement insurance policy and supply proof of the same to the City Clerk before the effective date of cancellation of prior insurance, then licensee's license shall be deemed revoked without further notice from the City Clerk. Section 2. Section 4.08.100 is hereby amended to read as follows: "4.08.100 Standards for Ambulance Eauipment-- Qualifications for Attendants -- (a) Each ambulance shall be equipped at all times with all equipment required for vehicles of similar size and use by the State of Washington. In addition thereto, each ambulance licensed hereunder to respond to aid calls shall maintain such additional equipment as is necessary to be comparable to the equipment main- tained on any aid car operated by the City of Edmonds. Equipment required to be carried on each such ambulance shall at all times be maintained in a workable and usable condition and shall include but is not limited to the following items: 1. (1) Portable resuscitator; 2. (1) Oxygen tank with regulator, liter gauge and mask; 3. (1) Collapsible stretcher; 4. (1) Urinal; 5. (2) Blankets for each stretcher; 6. (2) Sand bags (5 lb.); 7. (1) Emesis basin; 8. (1) Adult size leg splint; 9. (1) Child size leg splint; 10. (1) Bed pan; 11. ( 2 ) Restraint straps; 12. (2) Plastic covers for patients; 13. (1) Spare size E oxygen tank; 14. (1) Nonfolding stretcher (4 wheel gurny) 2 level; 15. (1) Robinson orthopedic stretcher; 16. (4) Changes of pillow cases, sheets and towels; -2- 17. An attendant's bag which shall contain the following: (1) Bandage shears, (2) Flashlights (1 regular and 1 pencil type), (1) Small airway, (1) Large airway, (6) Rolls 3-inch bandages, (2) Rolls 1-inch adhesive tape, (4) Arm splints, (6) Tongue depressors, (1) Infant's oxygen face cone; (2) Cravats, (3) 18-inch pieces surgical rubber tubing, (10) 4-inch x 4-inch gauze packs (2) Rolls 1-1/2 inch or 2-inch adhesive tape. All linens shall be changed after each use and laundered before reuse. After being used in a communicable disease, blankets shall be dry- cleaned. Blankets shall be kept in a clean, sanitary condition. (b) Each ambulance operating under the provisions of this chapter shall be equipped with a two-way radio operating on an independent radio frequency authorized by the Federal Communications Commission. (1) Such radio communication shall be between each such vehicle and the operator's headquarters; (2) The operator's headquarters shall be staffed on a twenty-four (24) hour basis, with a telephone dispatcher and a licensed radio dispatcher qualified to process any and all calls. The telephone operator and the radio dispatcher may be the same person (Ord. 1476 [part], 1970.) (c) Each vehicle licensed hereunder shall, at all times, be staffed with two attendants, one trained as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and one trained in Red Cross Advanced First Aid or its equivalent. Each such attendant shall be required to submit proof of such training and maintaining of such training prior to the issuance of any license provided by this chapter and on the annual renewal of each such license. Section 3. Chapter 4.08 of the Edmonds City Code is hereby amended by adding a new section, 4.08.105, to read as follows: "4.08.105 Licensees to Respond to Aid Calls on Non Code Basis -- Licensed private ambulance operators shall be permitted to monitor short wave radio, fire or police calls for the purpose of being apprised of the scene of an accident or other emergency. Said licensees =12 shall be permitted and required, unless other- wise engaged, to respond immediately to all aid car calls. Such responses shall be on a non code basis without the use of emergency lights and/or sirens unless otherwise specifically directed by the dispatcher for the City, the Municipal Aid Car Commander or the Fire Chief or his designee." Section 4. A new section, 4.08.106, is hereby added to the Edmonds City Code, to read as follows: "4.08.106 Schedule of Rates'.-- -City Approval Required -- All licensees shall keep in effect a published rate schedule, which rates have been approved by the Washington State Public Utilities and Transportation Commission or other applicable State agency and further, have been approved by the Edmonds City Council. The published charges for services rendered by any licensee hereunder shall not be levied until such prior approval has been obtained. Section 5. A new section, 4.08.121 is hereby added to the Edmonds City Code, to read as follows: "4.08.121 Policy and Procedure for Transportation of Injured or Ill Person -- Municipal Aid Car at The Scene -- In addition to other provisions of this chapter relating to the transportation of injured or ill persons by any ambulance licensed hereunder, the following procedures shall be followed in the event of a simultaneous response by the municipal aid car and an ambulance licensed hereunder to the scene of an accident or other emergency response: (a) The municipal aid car commander shall be in charge and the attendants on any such ambulance shall report to him. (b) The aid car commander shall make the deter- mination as to whether the victim is in such condi- tion that as a matter of life or death, he should be immediately transported to a medical establishment by the aid car. (c) In the event the condition of the victim is not such that the immediate delivery of the victim by the aid car to a hospital or other medical establish- ment is a matter of life or death, then said aid car commander shall cause the victim to be prepared for transportation by private ambulance or by privately furnished transportation. (d) The aid car commander shall ha-ve the lright to rely upon the expressed desire of the victim or the members of his family as to where the victim shall be transported. -4- (e) Transportation to a point outside the City of Edmonds shall not be done by the municipal aid car. Section 6. Section 4.08.150 of the Edmonds City Code is hereby amended to read as follows: "4.08.150 Revocation of Ambulance and/or Operator. License -- In the event of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, an ambulance operator license or driver attendant license, granted under this chapter, may be revoked or suspended by the City Council. Complaints for termination or sus- pension of any license issued in this chapter shall be filed with the City Clerkand served on the licensee not less than thirty (30) days prior to the date set by the City Council for the hearing to determine if any license shall be revoked or suspended. The complaint shall specify the facts giving rise to the alleged violation and a copy of said complaint shall be sent with the notice of the hearing to the licensee at the address shown on the license issued by the City. Notice shall be conclusively established to have been served by evidence of delivery either by certified or registered mail to the address shown on the application and/or license. The City Council shall conduct a hearing in accordance with its own rules and may adjourn the hearing from time to time and request such additional information or evidence from the licensee or other sources as it deems necessary to apprise itself of all of the facts it deems relevant to the complaint. The decision of the Council shall be final with respect to any revocation or suspension of any license issued under this chapter. Any licensee whose license is suspended or revoked may appeal the decision of the Council by making application for a Writ of Certiorari to the Superior Court of Snohomish County within ten (10) days of the date of the final decision by the City Council. This shall be an exclusive remedy of any licensee under this chapter. During the pendency of any such appeal, the decision of the City Council to suspend or revoke a license shall be stayed until final disposition of the matter by the Superior Court. ATTEST: APPROVED: IL MAYOR - . J, 4.. V CITY CLERK Passed by the City Council: October 22, 1974 Filed with. the City Clerk: October 18, 1974 Published: October 30, 1974 -5-