[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1201 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1201

To increase the safety for crew and passengers on an aircraft providing 
                      emergency medical services.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2009

   Mr. Salazar (for himself and Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To increase the safety for crew and passengers on an aircraft providing 
                      emergency medical services.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Air Medical Safety Act''.

SEC. 2. INCREASING SAFETY FOR CREW AND PASSENGERS ON AN AIRCRAFT 
              PROVIDING EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.

    (a) Compliance Regulations.--Not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, a pilot of an aircraft providing 
emergency medical services shall comply with the regulations in part 
135 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, whenever there is a 
medical crew on board, regardless of whether a patient is also on 
board.
    (b) Implementation of Flight Risk Evaluation Program.--Not later 
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall initiate, and complete not later than 18 months thereafter, a 
rulemaking--
            (1) to establish a standardized checklist of risk 
        evaluation factors based on Notice 8000.301 issued by the 
        Administration in August, 2005; and
            (2) to require pilots of aircraft providing emergency 
        medical service to use the checklist to determine whether a 
        mission should be accepted.
    (c) Comprehensive Consistent Flight Dispatch Procedures.--Not later 
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall initiate, and complete not later than 18 months thereafter, a 
collaborative effort with the air medical community--
            (1) to establish performance-based flight dispatch 
        procedures for pilots of aircraft providing emergency medical 
        services; and
            (2) to develop a method to measure compliance with those 
        procedures.
    (d) Improving the Data Available to NTSB Investigators at Crash 
Sites.--
            (1) Study.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall complete a 
        feasibility study of requiring flight data and cockpit voice 
        recorders on new and existing aircraft providing emergency 
        medical service operations. The study shall address, at a 
        minimum, issues related to survivability, weight, and financial 
        considerations of such a requirement.
            (2) Rulemaking.--Not later than 30 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall complete a 
        rulemaking to require flight data and cockpit voice recorders 
        on board aircraft providing emergency medical service 
        operations.
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