PART III. EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION

§1135.1. Qualifications to operate ambulances; equipment; penalty

            A.(1) No person or individual shall conduct, maintain, or operate an ambulance on any street, alley, or public way or place in the state unless the ambulance is staffed with a minimum of two persons, one of whom shall be a licensed emergency medical technician.

            (2)(a) No person or individual shall provide services in any capacity on any ambulance unless he is a licensed emergency medical responder, a licensed emergency medical technician, a licensed advance emergency medical technician, a licensed paramedic, a licensed respiratory therapist, a licensed nurse practitioner, a licensed physician assistant, a licensed occupational therapist, a licensed registered or practical nurse, or a physician.

            (b) Except as provided in R.S. 40:1135.3(A) of this Part, no individual shall transport any ill or injured person on a stretcher in a vehicle that is not staffed, equipped, insured, and licensed as an ambulance under this Part.

            (c) No individual shall provide services in any capacity on any ambulance without holding an American Heart Association Health Care Provider, or American Red Cross Professional Rescuer, or the equivalent cardio-pulmonary resuscitation certification that has been approved by the Louisiana Department of Health.

            (d) No individual shall transport any ill or injured person by ambulance unless the sick or injured person is attended by a licensed emergency medical technician, a licensed advance emergency medical technician, a licensed paramedic, a registered nurse, or a physician in the patient compartment.

            (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, a certified ambulance operator who is not a licensed emergency medical services practitioner may operate an ambulance in compliance with federal, state, and local law and assist with the handling and movement of a sick, injured, or disabled individual if a licensed emergency medical technician, a licensed advance emergency medical technician, a licensed paramedic, a registered nurse, or a physician directly supervises the certified ambulance operator. No ambulance operator may administer care procedures that a licensed emergency medical services practitioner is authorized to administer unless he is trained and certified or licensed to do so.

            (3) No person shall conduct, maintain, or operate an ambulance which does not carry with it, in fully operational condition, equipment consistent with the scope of practice for emergency medical technicians established in R.S. 40:1133.14. Each ambulance service provider shall develop and maintain a written policy identifying the equipment required to comply with the provisions of this Paragraph. At a minimum, the policy shall identify the basic trauma equipment, drugs, suction and oxygen equipment, cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment, and any other equipment required by law that shall be maintained on the ambulance.

            (4) Repealed by Acts 2013, No. 184, §2(B).

            (5) Nothing herein shall prohibit the transportation of an injured or ill person in an ambulance or industrial ambulance staffed by persons with less than the required qualifications in an emergency situation where there is no reasonable expectation of the prompt response by an ambulance staffed by persons with the required qualifications.

            (6) Nothing herein shall prohibit a firefighter, law enforcement officer, or good Samaritan from assisting an ambulance at the scene of an emergency or while transporting a patient to a medical facility at the request of the emergency medical technician.

            (7) Nothing herein shall prohibit an individual without the required qualifications from riding in an ambulance for the purpose of training, observation, or continuing education.

            (8) Advanced life support ambulances shall be staffed by not less than two people, at least one of which shall be licensed at a minimum to the level of advanced emergency medical technician.

            B.(1) Repealed by Acts 2001, No. 625, §2.

            (2) Nothing in this Part shall be construed to prohibit the transportation of an injured or ill individual in an invalid coach in an emergency situation where there is no reasonable expectation of the prompt response of an ambulance or industrial ambulance.

            C. The department shall conduct or may authorize another public agency to conduct an inspection of any ambulance service provider or invalid coach provider and to report any violation to the appropriate district attorney's office.

            D.(1) The provisions of this Section shall not apply:

            (a) To ambulances operated by a federal agency of the United States government.

            (b) Repealed by Acts 2001, No. 625, §2.

            (c) To ambulances which are rendering assistance to licensed ambulances in the case of a major disaster, be it natural or manmade, in which the licensed ambulances are insufficient or otherwise not capable of coping.

            (d) Repealed by Acts 2001, No. 625, §2.

            (e) To ambulances which are operated from a location outside of the state to transport patients from a location outside of the state to a location inside the state or to transport patients from a medical facility inside to a point outside the state, but no such ambulance shall transport any patient point to point within the state except in the case of disaster as outlined in this Part.

            (2) This provision shall not apply to individuals who are employed to function on licensed air ambulances solely to act as pilots.

            (3) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to industrial ambulances providing transportation to employees who become sick or injured during the course of their employment from a job site to the nearest appropriate medical facility.

            E. The provisions of this Section shall apply to all parishes or municipalities except those electing not to comply as expressed to the department in a written resolution by the governing body of such parish or municipality. If any parish or municipality elects to be excluded from this Section, it may later elect to be included by resolution. The election of any parish to be included or excluded from this Section shall in no way affect the election of any municipality to be included or excluded.

            F. Whoever violates this Section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days or both. The penalty prescribed by this Section shall be doubled for any subsequent offense.

            Acts 1977, No. 626, §2. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 469, §1; Acts 1986, No. 632, §1; Acts 1987, No. 480, §1, eff. July 9, 1987; Acts 1997, No. 913, §2; Acts 1997, No. 982, §1, eff. July 10, 1997; Acts 2001, No. 625, §§1 and 2; Acts 2003, No. 751, §1, eff. June 27, 2003; Acts 2012, No. 789, §2, eff. June 13, 2012; Acts 2013, No. 184, §2(A) and (B); Redesignated from R.S. 40:1235 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S; Acts 2018, No. 557, §1; Acts 2022, No. 644, §1.