The Ohio legislature passed House Bill 187 over the summer, and it recently went into effect on August 31, 2016. House Bill 187 authorizes emergency medical personnel to provide emergency medical services to an injured cat or dog, in the course of an emergency response, before the animal is transferred to a veterinarian.
Under House Bill 187, emergency medical personnel are authorized to:
1. Open and manually maintain an airway;
2. Give mouth to snout or mouth to barrier ventilation;
3. Administer oxygen;
4. Manage ventilation by mask;
5. Control hemorrhage with direct pressure;
6. Immobilize fractures;
7. Bandage; and
8. Administer naloxone hydrochloride (which blocks or reverses the effects of opioids)
The term emergency medical personnel includes the following job titles: first responder, EMT-basic, EMT-intermediate, and EMT-paramedic.
House Bill 187 also authorizes a veterinarian to establish and provide a written protocol to, or consult with, emergency medical personnel to enable the provision of these services.
House Bill 187 includes qualified immunity protection from criminal prosecution and professional disciplinary action for these emergency medical personnel. The emergency medical personnel are protected for conduct related to the act, unless their conduct constitutes willful or wanton misconduct. Such personnel are already covered by law from civil liability as well.
Further, the Act also extends this immunity to emergency medical service organizations as long as the conduct doesn’t constitute willful or wanton misconduct, and veterinarians who act in good faith in accordance with the Act.