Senator Mike Bernskoetter

6th Senatorial District

For Immediate Release: 

Dec. 6, 2024

Capitol Building, Room 416

Jefferson City, MO 65101

Contact Kenny Ross: 

 573-751-2076

Emergency Medical Services Reform 

This week I would like to write to you about Senate Bill 7, an important piece of legislation that I have pre-filed for the upcoming session. This bill seeks to improve the way ambulance districts operate. 

Ambulance districts are a crucial part of our emergency response and healthcare system. They act on the front line of emergencies, ensuring that patients are safely transported to a hospital where they can receive the care they need during a health care crisis. They also serve as the first stage in treatment, responding first and stabilizing patients to ensure they are in a condition to be transported.

There is no single statewide ambulance department, but instead the state is covered with local districts that are close to the community they serve. These local ambulance districts have cultivated relationships with their local emergency rooms and hospitals. In moments of crisis or when the current district is overwhelmed, ambulance districts provide and receive help from neighboring districts to help transport patients.

Here in Cole County, we are blessed to be serviced by an excellent organization, Cole County Emergency Medical Services. However, across the state there are places where the standards of excellence that are so important are not being met. That is why I filed SB 7, with the help of the state association of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) operators, also known as the Missouri Ambulance Association. This legislation creates a statewide framework for how ambulance districts should be organized. It requires the board of directors for each ambulance district receive annual training, and an audit every three years of each ambulance district, to ensure transparency and good government.

The bill will also require the Department of Health and Senior Services, which is the state department that regulates ambulance districts, to oversee additional training for administrators of ambulance districts. In addition, this legislation gives the department the power to deny an operating license to ambulance districts that are financially insolvent or inadequately staffed. 

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that all ambulance districts in Missouri are held to a certain level of excellence that ensures quality care for their patients. If an ambulance district operator cannot meet this standard, then their license should be revoked to allow a new operator to come in and provide this crucial service for their community. If a license is revoked, the Department of Health and Senior Services will immediately work with neighboring ambulance districts to ensure there is not a drop in service for that community. This legislation is about guaranteeing that when a person is most in need, there are trained and ready emergency personnel standing by to help them and transport them to the nearest hospital.

Please feel free to contact my office at 573-751-2076. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Bernskoetter.