[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 47 (Friday, March 9, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10548-10549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04749]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. DOT-NHTSA-2017-0087]


Reports, Forms, and Record Keeping Requirements

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 
notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) 
abstracted below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and comments. A Federal Register Notice with a 
60-day comment period soliciting comments on the following information 
collection was published on November 2, 2017. Two comments were 
received. The content of neither comment related to the proposed data 
collection.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 9, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, including 
suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for the Office of the Secretary of 
Transportation, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Laurie Flaherty, Coordinator, 
National 911 Program, Office of Emergency Medical Services, National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, NPD-400, Room W44-322, 
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-2705. Please identify the relevant 
collection of information by referring to its OMB Control Number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Medical Directors Workforce Assessment.
    OMB Control Number: U.S. DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2017-0087.
    Type of Request: New information collection.
    Abstract: With over 50,000 separate Emergency Medical Services 
(EMS) agencies and fire departments providing care to millions of 
patients each year, a clear description of the training and backgrounds 
of those who provide medical direction of EMS services in the U.S. is 
surprisingly not available. An estimated 8,500 medical directors serve 
20,000 EMS agencies and 30,000 fire departments across the country.
    Public Safety Answering Points that answer 911 calls and provide 
emergency medical dispatch, aeromedical services, mass gathering events 
such as marathons and concerts, and police departments and their 
special operations teams also require medical directors if their 
personnel provide emergency care or instruction. Despite a growing 
number of trained and now boarded certified EMS physicians, prehospital 
medical direction faces several obstacles and unknowns. Currently data 
is difficult to identify, but many medical directors are thought to be 
from several specialties such as family practice, internal medicine, 
and surgery and have little or no EMS experience. In addition, 
individuals serving as EMS directors have varying degrees of 
involvement with their services. Medical directors' compensation, legal 
protections, involvement in research, and education are also largely 
unknown.
    Knowing more about the population of EMS medical directors in the 
United States would create several benefits. Defining this groups' 
demographics, qualifications, number, types and sizes of agencies 
served, and their financial compensation and legal protections is 
critical to determining trends of employment, identifying professional 
and training needs, recognizing barriers for medical directors, and 
directing policy and advocacy efforts. Collecting this data is 
essential for improving EMS medical direction across the nation and the 
National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other federal 
departments would benefit from understanding its prehospital medical 
leadership from a national preparedness perspective.
    The goal of the Medical Directors Workforce Assessment is to 
investigate and define key attributes of EMS and 911 medical directors 
across the United States in order to create a national picture of 
prehospital medical direction. The data will be used to establish an 
Emergency Medical Services Medical Director Workforce Assessment 
(EMSMDWA), which can guide future policy and investment in activities 
to support the improvement of prehospital medical direction.
    Affected Public: Under this proposed effort, the respondents would 
voluntarily submit data described above utilizing a web-based data 
collection tool. Reporting entities are EMS and 911 Medical Directors 
of state and local EMS and 911 systems. The total maximum number of 
respondents is estimated 350.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Under this proposed effort, 
several forums and organizations known for medical director involvement 
will be targeted by the Office of EMS, to respond to an online survey 
being developed by the National Association of EMS Physicians, under 
the terms of a cooperative agreement (DTNH22-16-H-00007). The total 
number of respondents is estimated at 350. This is a one-time survey 
and no annual or second survey is planned at this time.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: NHTSA estimates that the time 
required to submit the data described utilizing the web-based tool will 
be one hour (no advance preparation, one hour of entry to website) per 
reporting entity, for a total of 350 hours for all entities. The 
respondents would not incur any reporting costs from the information 
collection beyond the time it takes to populate the web-based data 
collection tool. The respondents also would not incur any recordkeeping 
burden or recordkeeping costs from the information collection.
    The total estimated costs to respondents or record-keepers are 
based on the following: The total hour burden of the collection of 
information equaling 350 hours.
    Respondents will be EMS and 911 Medical Directors at of State, 
local, territorial, and tribal EMS and 911 systems. To estimate 
reasonable staff expenses to respond to this information collection, 
the Agencies reviewed the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational 
Outlook Handbook and determined that the Physicians and Surgeons 
description closely aligns with the positions of personnel responsible 
for completing this request. BLS lists a median salary of $208,000 per 
year amounting to $100.00 per hour. There are no capital, start-up, or 
annual operation and maintenance costs involved in the collection of 
information.
    Total cost based on hour's burden equals $35,000.00.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspects of 
this information collection, including (a) whether the proposed 
collection of

[[Page 10549]]

information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Department's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, 
including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. Section 3506(c)(2)(A).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2018.
Jeff Michael,
Associate Administrator, Research and Program Development.
[FR Doc. 2018-04749 Filed 3-8-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-59-P