Rocklin Municipal Code Ch. 9.50 Fee for Non-Emergency Lift Assistance at Licensed Care Facilities

The purpose of this chapter is to enact a penalty fee to discourage the use of the 911 emergency system to dispatch personnel of the Rocklin Fire Department or its contractors and partners for non-emergency patient lift assistance at licensed care facilities. The intent is to provide a disincentive for the practice of using publicly-funded emergency services to provide non-emergency assistance to a licensed care facility, which is required by law to provide adequate staffing to care for its clients.

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)

For the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meanings given:

"Licensed care facility" means a facility that is required by state law to maintain a license to provide health care, community care, assisted living, and/or residential care services.

"Lift assist" means a response by a fire department emergency response unit or the emergency response unit of a private contractor of the city or the unit of another public safety department providing automatic or mutual aid to the city to a licensed care facility for the purpose of lifting an uninjured fallen person to a pre-fall position.

"Non-emergency/emergency" means a determination, based upon an assessment by the commanding officer or paramedic of the emergency response unit, that there is not an emergency medical condition or medical necessity justifying the presence of the emergency unit at the facility.

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)

Based upon the assessment undertaken by the commanding officer or paramedic of an emergency response unit dispatched to a licensed care facility and their determination that no emergency medical condition or emergency medical necessity exists, but the staff of the facility desires that emergency response personnel complete a lift assist of a fallen person, the officer shall declare the incident a non-emergency lift assist in their incident report.

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)

The fire chief, or designee, shall be authorized to issue a fee for each incident determined to be non-emergency lift assist at licensed care facilities. The amount of the non-emergency lift assistance penalty fee shall be established by resolution of the city council.

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)

Notice of the imposition of fees under the provisions of this section shall be sent to the owner or management of the facility where the incident occurred; provided that, with respect to business premises, the owner, manager, or chief administrative agent regularly assigned and employed on the premises at the time of the occurrence shall be presumed to be the appropriate person to receive the notice, unless the city is notified otherwise.

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)

In the event the fire chief, or designee, determines that city's assessment or determination of a response as a non-emergency lift assist was in error or there were other mitigating facts which the commanding officer did not possess at the time of the incident, the fire chief, or designee, may waive imposition of the applicable fee(s).

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)

Any party subject to a fee under the provisions of this section shall have a right of appeal to the fire chief, or designee. A notice of appeal must be submitted in writing no later than ten days after issuance of the notice of the fee and must be directed to the fire chief, at the address listed on the notice of fee. The written appeal should include the fee reference number and the party's reasoning why the determination of notice of non-emergency lift assist should be reconsidered. Within thirty days of receipt of a written appeal, an impartial review of the appeal shall be completed and a recommendation shall be presented to the fire chief, or designee, for final decision, which will be reported to the appellant in writing. Unless a notice of appeal is properly filed in accordance with this section within ten days of the issuance of notice of fee, said fee is deemed final.

(Ord. No. 1144, § 4, 1-11-2022)