Butte County Municipal Code Art. II Provider Agreements and Certificates Required

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, either as owner, agent, employee, or otherwise, to operate, conduct, advertise, or otherwise be engaged in the business of providing ambulance services, or the transportation of patients within the County by means of an ambulance or air ambulance, or operate an ambulance upon any public road, or provide any medical services associated therewith, without first having entered into a Provider Agreement with the LEMSA and obtained the current applicable licenses or certificates as hereinafter provided.

(b) EOA Ambulance Service Provider Agreements. Every ambulance company providing 911 ground ambulance services in an Exclusive Operating Area (EOA) established in the county pursuant to Section 45-30 shall, in addition to entering into a Provider Agreement with the LEMSA, enter into an EOA Agreement with the LEMSA in accordance with the provisions of Article III, unless otherwise provided.

(c) Air Ambulance Service Provider Agreements. Every Air ambulance company located in the County and/or operating and providing air ambulance services in the county shall enter into an air ambulance service Provider Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article IV, unless otherwise provided.

(d) Ambulance Certificates. Every ambulance or air ambulance shall have a current inspection certificate issued by the California Highway Patrol or applicable air carrier operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, unless a public agency is exempted by law.

(e) Driver's License. Every Driver operating an ambulance shall hold a currently valid California State Ambulance Driver's License. Excepted from this requirement are persons operating an ambulance in the line of duty as salaried, regular, full-time police officers, deputy sheriffs, or members of a fire department of a public agency.

(f) Attendant. Every person accompanying an ambulance patient shall be an Attendant or, when determined by an attending physician to be necessary in the case of an inter-facility transfer, shall be a physician or registered nurse.

(Ord. No. 4057, § 1, 5-21-13)

The provisions of this article shall not apply to the following.

(a) Any ambulance owned or operated by the United States, or the State of California, and the personnel operating such ambulance.

(b) Any ambulance and personnel operating such ambulance which is only temporarily within the County at the request of a hospital or physician for the purpose of providing specialized care for transport of a patient to a facility which will provide specialized medical services to the patient, and is owned by an ambulance company located outside the County.

(c) Any ambulance and personnel operating such ambulance rendering assistance to patients during any "state of war emergency," "state of emergency," or "local emergency," as those terms are defined in the California Government Code, or as otherwise requested by the Health Director, Health Officer or public safety agency for a mutual aid response.

(d) Any ambulance company based outside the County when one (1) of the following applies:

(1) A patient is being transported to a residence or facility within the County from a residence or facility outside the County; or

(2) A patient is being transported through the County to a destination outside the County; or

(3) A patient was transported into the County by the same ambulance company and is being transported back to the County of origin.

(Ord. No. 4057, § 1, 5-21-13)