1. Establishing a comprehensive statewide emergency medical services system, incorporating facilities, transportation, manpower, communications, and other components as integral parts of a unified system that will serve to improve the delivery of emergency medical services and thereby decrease morbidity, hospitalization, disability, and mortality;

2. Reducing the time period between the identification of an acutely ill or injured patient and the definitive treatment;

3. Increasing the accessibility of high quality emergency medical services to all citizens of Virginia;

4. Promoting continuing improvement in system components including ground, water, and air transportation; communications; hospital emergency departments and other emergency medical care facilities; health care provider training and health care service delivery; and consumer health information and education;

5. Ensuring performance improvement of the emergency medical services system and emergency medical services and care delivered on scene, in transit, in hospital emergency departments, and within the hospital environment;

6. Working with professional medical organizations, hospitals, and other public and private agencies in developing approaches whereby the many persons who are presently using the existing emergency department for routine, nonurgent, primary medical care will be served more appropriately and economically;

7. Conducting, promoting, and encouraging programs of education and training designed to upgrade the knowledge and skills of emergency medical services personnel, including expanding the availability of paramedic and advanced life support training throughout the Commonwealth with particular emphasis on regions underserved by emergency medical services personnel having such skills and training;

8. Consulting with and reviewing, with agencies and organizations, the development of applications to governmental or other sources for grants or other funding to support emergency medical services programs;

9. Establishing a statewide air medical evacuation system which shall be developed by the Department of Health in coordination with the Department of State Police and other appropriate state agencies;

10. Establishing and maintaining a process for designation of appropriate hospitals as trauma centers and specialty care centers based on an applicable national evaluation system;

11. Maintaining a comprehensive emergency medical services patient care data collection and performance improvement system pursuant to Article 3.1 (§ 32.1-116.1 et seq.);

12. Collecting data and information and preparing reports for the sole purpose of the designation and verification of trauma centers and other specialty care centers pursuant to this section. All data and information collected shall remain confidential and shall be exempt from the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.);

13. Establishing and maintaining a process for crisis intervention and peer support services for emergency medical services personnel and public safety personnel, including statewide availability and accreditation of critical incident stress management teams;

14. Establishing a statewide program of emergency medical services for children to provide coordination and support for emergency pediatric care, availability of pediatric emergency medical care equipment, and pediatric training of health care providers;

15. Establishing and supporting a statewide system of health and medical emergency response teams, including emergency medical services disaster task forces, coordination teams, disaster medical assistance teams, and other support teams that shall assist local emergency medical services agencies at their request during mass casualty, disaster, or whenever local resources are overwhelmed;

16. Establishing and maintaining a program to improve dispatching of emergency medical services personnel and vehicles, including establishment of and support for emergency medical services dispatch training, accreditation of 911 dispatch centers, and public safety answering points;

17. Identifying and establishing best practices for managing and operating emergency medical services agencies, improving and managing emergency medical services response times, and disseminating such information to the appropriate persons and entities;

18. Ensuring that the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund shall be contacted immediately to deploy assistance in the event there are victims as defined in § 19.2-11.01, and that the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund become the lead coordinating agencies for those individuals determined to be victims; and

19. Maintaining current contact information for both the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund.

1. A strategy for maintaining the statewide Trauma Triage Plan through development of regional trauma triage plans that take into account the region’s geographic variations and trauma care capabilities and resources, including hospitals designated as trauma centers pursuant to subsection A and inclusion of such regional plans in the statewide Trauma Triage Plan. The regional trauma triage plans shall be reviewed triennially. Plans should ensure that the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund shall be contacted immediately to deploy assistance in the event there are victims as defined in § 19.2-11.01, and that the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund become the lead coordinating agencies for those individuals determined to be victims; and maintain current contact information for both the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund.

2. A uniform set of proposed criteria for prehospital and interhospital triage and transport of trauma patients developed by the Advisory Board, in consultation with the Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, and prehospital care providers. The Advisory Board may revise such criteria from time to time to incorporate accepted changes in medical practice or to respond to needs indicated by analyses of data on patient outcomes. Such criteria shall be used as a guide and resource for health care providers and are not intended to establish, in and of themselves, standards of care or to abrogate the requirements of § 8.01-581.20. A decision by a health care provider to deviate from the criteria shall not constitute negligence per se.

3. A performance improvement program for monitoring the quality of emergency medical services and trauma services, consistent with other components of the Emergency Medical Services Plan. The program shall provide for collection and analysis of data on emergency medical and trauma services from existing validated sources, including the emergency medical services patient care information system, pursuant to Article 3.1 (§ 32.1-116.1 et seq.), the Patient Level Data System, and mortality data. The Advisory Board shall review and analyze such data on a quarterly basis and report its findings to the Commissioner. The Advisory Board may execute these duties through a committee composed of persons having expertise in critical care issues and representatives of emergency medical services providers. The program for monitoring and reporting the results of emergency medical services and trauma services data analysis shall be the sole means of encouraging and promoting compliance with the trauma triage criteria.The Commissioner shall report aggregate findings of the analysis annually to each regional emergency medical services council. The report shall be available to the public and shall identify, minimally, as defined in the statewide plan, the frequency of (i) incorrect triage in comparison to the total number of trauma patients delivered to a hospital prior to pronouncement of death and (ii) incorrect interfacility transfer for each region.The Advisory Board or its designee shall ensure that each hospital director or emergency medical services agency chief is informed of any incorrect interfacility transfer or triage, as defined in the statewide Trauma Triage Plan, specific to the hospital or agency and shall give the hospital or agency an opportunity to correct any facts on which such determination is based, if the hospital or agency asserts that such facts are inaccurate. The findings of the report shall be used to improve the Trauma Triage Plan, including triage, and transport and trauma center designation criteria.The Commissioner shall ensure the confidentiality of patient information, in accordance with § 32.1-116.2. Such data or information in the possession of or transmitted to the Commissioner, the Advisory Board, any committee acting on behalf of the Advisory Board, any hospital or prehospital care provider, any regional emergency medical services council, emergency medical services agency that holds a valid license issued by the Commissioner, or group or committee established to monitor the quality of emergency medical services or trauma services pursuant to this subdivision, or any other person shall be privileged and shall not be disclosed or obtained by legal discovery proceedings, unless a circuit court, after a hearing and for good cause shown arising from extraordinary circumstances, orders disclosure of such data.

1. A strategy for maintaining the statewide Stroke Triage Plan through development of regional stroke triage plans that take into account the region’s geographic variations and stroke care capabilities and resources, including hospitals designated as “primary stroke centers” through certification by the Joint Commission, DNV Healthcare, or a comparable process consistent with the recommendations of the Brain Attack Coalition, and inclusion of such regional plans in the statewide Stroke Triage Plan. The regional stroke triage plans shall be reviewed triennially.

2. A uniform set of proposed criteria for prehospital and interhospital triage and transport of stroke patients developed by the Advisory Board, in consultation with the American Stroke Association, the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, and prehospital care providers. The Board may revise such criteria from time to time to incorporate accepted changes in medical practice or to respond to needs indicated by analyses of data on patient outcomes. Such criteria shall be used as a guide and resource for health care providers and are not intended to establish, in and of themselves, standards of care or to abrogate the requirements of § 8.01-581.20. A decision by a health care provider to deviate from the criteria shall not constitute negligence per se.