OR 96-754 Regulate emergency ambulance service AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF COPPELL, TEXAS
ORDINANCE NO. 96754
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF COPPELL, TEXAS,
AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES BY AMENDING SECTION 15-
5 TO REGULATE EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE WITHIN THE
CITY; PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE; PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING
FOR A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF THIS ORDINANCE NOT TO
EXCEED THE SUM OF FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00) FOR EACH
OFFENSE, EXCEPT, HOWEVER, WHERE A DIFFERENT PENALTY HAS
BEEN ESTABLISHED BY STATE LAW FOR SUCH OFFENSE, THE
PENALTY SI"L~L BE THAT FIXED BY STATE LAW, AND FOR ANY
OFFENSE WHICH IS A VIOLATION OF PROVISION OF LAW THAT
GOVERNS FIRE SAFETY, ZONING, OR PUBLIC HEALTH AND
SANITATION, INCLUDING DUMPING OF REFUSE, THE PENALTY
SHALL BE A FINE NOT TO EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO THOUSAND
DOLLARS ($2,000.00) FOR EACH OFFENSE; AND PROVIDING AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COPPELL,
TEXAS:
SECTION 1. T at Section 15-5 of the Code of Ordinances of the Cit of Coppell,
Texas, be and the same is hereby amended in part to read as follows:
SEC. 15-5-5 EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE
A. DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this section, the following words and phrases shall have the
meanings respectfully ascribed to them in this section:
1. Emergency means any circumstance that calls for immediate action and
in which the element of time in transporting the sick, wounded or
injured for medical treatment is essential to the health or life of the
person. Such circumstances include, but are not limited to, accidents
generally, traffic accidents, and acts of violence resulting in personal
injury, and sudden illness.
1 AGG081C7
2. Emergency ambulance means any motor vehicle especially designed,
constructed, equipped, and used for transporting the injured or ill in
answer to an emergency call.
3. Emergency call means any request for ambulance service that is made
by telephone or other means of communication in circumstances which
are, or have been represented to be, an emergency and requiring
immediate ambulance service.
4. Emergency tun means the emergency ambulance trip to the place
where the emergency exists, or from the place of such emergency to a
hospital, medical clinic or medical office, or other appropriate
destination for the patient.
5. Communication center/dispatcher means the dispatcher of the police
department of the City.
6. Transfer ambulance means any motor vehicle constructed, equipped
and used for transferring the injured or sick under circumstances which
do not constitute an emergency and which have not been represented
as an emergency, and which has been certified as an emergency
ambulance by another governmental entity.
B. CITY SERVICE; FEES
1. The Fire Department of the City shall be the sole provider of
emergency ambulance service within the City except as otherwise
provided herein. Fees for transport by the City Fire Department shall
be charged residents and non-residents in amounts established by
Resolution of the City Council.
2. A person receiving ambulance emergency service and any person
contracting for service shall be responsible for payment of the fee. A
hospital requesting emergency ambulance service for the purpose of
this section shall be considered the party responsible for payment of
the fee. In case of service received by a minor, the parent or guardian
shall be responsible for payment of the fee.
3. The City Fire Department will transport the injured or ill person to the
most appropriate medical facility when consideration is given to
location, type of emergency, patient-physician relationship, emergency
room/hospital capability.
2 AGG081C7
C. PRIVATE EMERGENCY SERVICE REGULATIONS
1. It shall be unlawful for any person, either as owner, agent, or
otherwise, other than a member of the City Fire Department or an
agency of the United States, to furnish, operate, conduct, maintain,
advertise or otherwise be engaged in the operation of emergency
ambulance service within the City except under the following
conditions:
a. It shall be permissible for any person operating a transfer
ambulance in the City, upon an emergency run when the City
Fire Department ambulances are not available, and the City
communication center/dispatcher requests the operator to
furnish the emergency ambulance service for the City Fire
Department.
b. It shall be permissible for a person operating a transfer
ambulance in the City, upon responding to a direct call for a
non-emergency transfer ambulance service to operate such
ambulance under emergency conditions, using emergency
equipment, after notifying the City Communication
Center/dispatcher and receiving permission to make an
emergency run, when a determination is made by the transfer
ambulance attendant that an emergency exists requiring the sick
or injured person to be transported with all practical speed to
a hospital.
c. It shall be permissible for any person operating a transfer
ambulance in the City, who is performing the service of
maintaining an ambulance at a particular location for a sporting
event, to operate such ambulance under emergency conditions,
using emergency equipment, after notifying the Communication
Center/dispatcher and receiving permission to make an
emergency run, when a determination is made by the transfer
ambulance attendant that an emergency exists requiring the sick
or injured person to be transported with all practical speed to
a hospital.
d. It shall be permissible for any person to operate an emergency
ambulance to a hospital within the City, if the place of
emergency at which the sick or injured person was picked up by
such ambulance is outside the City limits, and the ambulance
making the emergency run is licensed and operated in
accordance with Article 4590b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes;
3 AGG081C7
provided that the operator first notifies the Communication
Center/dispatcher of the route over which the emergency run
will be made.
2. All transfer ambulances operating with the City shall comply with all
applicable law and regulations of the City and State.
3. Use of emergency lights, sirens, or speed above the posted speed limit
by a transfer ambulance is prohibited except when such an ambulance
is on an emergency run as permitted in Subsection C above.
4. The City Manager shall have the authority to revoke the right of any
person to operate an ambulance under the authority of this section for
failure to comply with the provisions of this section. Any person whose
authority is so revoked shall have the right to appeal such decision in
writing to the City Council within ten (10) days stating the reasons
therefor. The City Secretary shall notify the appellant within ten (10)
days of the time and place of the hearing by the City Council which
shall be within thirty (30) days of the receipt of such appeal. The
decision of the City Council on such appeal shall be final.
5. All transfer ambulance service or companies receiving calls for
emergency service within the City shall immediately contact the City
communication center/police dispatch to relay pertinent information
in order to expedite the dispatch of City Fire Department medical
units.
6. The City Manager or designated representative may enter into a
reciprocal agreement with any other governmental entity or ambulance
service under the following conditions provided the governmental
entity operating an ambulance on an emergency run within the City
shall first notify the City communication center/dispatch immediately
of the route to be taken by such an ambulance:
a. allows ambulances from another municipality conduct
emergency runs within the City when transporting an emergency
patient from such other governmental entity to a hospital.
b. allows another governmental entity's ambulances to respond
emergency calls within the City when the City Fire Department
cannot respond with an ambulance, more ambulances are
required than the City Fire Department has available for
response, or when an accident occurs within the City but is
4 AGG081C7
adjacent to a neighboring municipality or entity which responds
with an ambulance first.
SECTION 2. That all ordinances and provisions of the Code of Ordinances of the
City of Coppell, Texas in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance be, and the same are
hereby, repealed, and all other provisions not in conflict with the provisions of this
ordinance shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 3. That should any word, phrase, paragraph, section or portion of this
ordinance, or of the Code of Ordinances, as amended hereby, be held to be void or
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of said
ordinance, or of the Code of Ordinances, as amended hereby, which shall remain in full
force and effect.
SECTION 4. An offense committed before the effective date of this ordinance is
governed by the prior law and the provisions of the Code of Ordinances, as amended, in
effect when the offense was committed and the former law is continued in effect for this
purpose.
SECTION 5. That any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of
this ordinance or the Code of Ordinances as amended hereby, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and upon conviction in the Municipal Court of the City of Coppell, Texas,
shall be subject to a fine not to exceed the sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each
offense, except where a different penalty has been established by State law for such offense,
the penalty shall be that fixed by State law, and for any offense which is a violation of any
provision of law that governs fire safety, zoning or public health and sanitation, including
dumping of refuse, the penalty shall be a fine not to exceed the sum of Two Thousand
5 AGG081C7
Dollars ($2,000.00) for each offense; and each and every day such offense is continued shall
constitute a new and separate offense.
SECTION 6. That this ordinance shall become effective immediately from and after
its passage and the publication of the caption, as the law and charter in such cases provide.
DULY PASSED by the City Council of the City of Coppell, Texas, this the
day of, ~ .; ,~,., 1996.
APPROVED:
MORTON, MAYOR
ATIIEST:
/,'
./
· ~'
LiNDA GRAU, CITY SECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
(.,~.d -<:--': L.' :'.2 -"~,:/ .:~,:- ~ .' :.v,-:. ,....,
PETER G. SMITH, CITY ATI'ORNEY
(PGS/lm 3/19/96)
6 AGG081C7