Dead on arrival? Controversial Pless bid to change EMS and ambulance standards off the table for now

Yahoo

22-05-2025

May 21—N.C. Rep. Mark Pless's proposals to change requirements for emergency medical personnel and remove local government control over ambulance services are dead in the water, at least for this session of the General Assembly, much to the relief of a number of EMS personnel across the state.
Pless had introduced two bills that roused significant criticisms from EMS groups, not because the proposals would strengthen standards but because, critics said, they would lessen them.
Neither proposal met the General Assembly's "crossover deadline," the date by which most bills must pass from one chamber to the other to be eligible for consideration this session. A bill introduced in the House must have a companion bill also be introduced in the Senate, and vice versa, to survive crossover.
"North Carolina's EMS providers and administrators can find reassurance in the news that House Bills 219 and 675 did not advance past the legislative crossover deadline and will not move forward in the current session," said Travis Donaldson, Haywood County EMS director. "These bills proposed significant changes to EMS operations and personnel credentialing, raising high levels of concern among professionals across the state."
The bills
House Bill 675 would have done away with state credentials for EMS personnel in favor of a national system. One of the biggest problems was that those national standards were not as demanding as those for state certification, critics said.
Pless' original proposal would have required all EMS personnel in North Carolina to be certified under a third-party national registry, which many emergency medical technicians and paramedics criticized as an unnecessary waste of their time and money. Pless later modified the bill to require the national certification for new EMS workers only, and critics continue to complain that the change would mean lesser standards of training.
A second proposal, House Bill 219 would have repealed county or city franchising abilities and control over medical care standards for private ambulance services, allowing such organizations or businesses to offer ambulance care without local oversight. At an April meeting with about 50 EMS workers from throughout Western North Carolina, the group had said the bill, if passed, would mean less assurance that medical teams were qualified and capable.
Donaldson said while he and others appreciate Pless's attention to EMS-related matters, meaningful and effective legislation begins with collaboration.
At Pless' meeting with EMS leaders, the group was asked if any had spoken to Pless before the bills were introduced, and nobody raised a hand. Pless said later in the meeting he only consulted people he could trust. He said they weren't in the room and nobody would ever know who they were.
"North Carolina's EMS system is built on decades of experience, evolving best practices, and the input of countless dedicated professionals who live this work every day," Donaldson said. "We encourage our elected officials to engage in open dialogue with local EMS leaders and frontline providers before proposing reforms that may unintentionally disrupt systems that are already working well."
Pless proposed 13 bills during this session. Of those, three were approved in the House and met the crossover deadline. However, more than those three proposals may be enacted: Bills dealing with revenue, appropriations and election issues are exempt from the deadline.
Pless has four bills exempted from the crossover deadline, including two that would allocate hurricane relief funding for Madison County, one that would provide funding to repair Helene's damage to Blue Ridge Southern railroad and a fourth that would provide funds for athletic purposes at Tuscola and Bethel.
Two local bills that drew attention — de-annexing nine properties within the town limits of Maggie Valley and abolishing the Tourism Development Authority — were rewritten and heard in the House finance committee Tuesday.