Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2690, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to supplement the general funds appropriated to the emergency medical system by establishing an emergency medical services special fund.

Specifically, this measure allocates additional state motor vehicle registration fees to the Department of Health to use in operating the State's comprehensive emergency medical services system.

In addition, this measure appropriates funds for advance life support ambulance services for parts of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii, and provides for necessary training opportunities on the neighbor islands.

Your Committee is cognizant that the rapid response of emergency medical services is critical to positive outcomes for emergency patients. The need to provide sufficient emergency medical care to residents of rural areas, particularly on the neighbor islands, is long overdue. Your Committee further finds that funding has been a critical issue in financing the emergency services. User fees for emergency medical services are deposited into the general fund, but are not an adequate source of funding for the services.

Additionally, your Committee finds that the retention and recruitment of paramedics is vital in maintaining a top-notch emergency medical service. Paramedics are an essential component of the continuum of care and serve as linkages among health resources. Your Committee further finds that professional development and training for paramedics and new recruits is a sound way to address the challenge of retention and recruitment, which was identified as a top priority in ensuring Hawaii's emergency response system's peak performance at the 2003 Hawaii EMS Agenda for the Future Summit.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2690, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2690, S.D. 2.