PHOENIX — Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.
Gov. Doug Ducey has signed legislation that prohibits emergency medical technicians from diagnosing patients or discouraging them from seeking transport to a hospital.
House Bill 2431 sets new parameters for what Arizona's EMTs can or cannot recommend to patients they're treating out in the field.
The new law prohibits EMTs from giving a presumptive medical diagnosis and using that diagnosis as justification to not transport the patient to a hospital.
State Rep. Amish Shah, a medical doctor representing District 24, introduced the legislation after coming across research suggesting Phoenix had a high rate of "non-transports" compared to other jurisdictions.
“We have reviewed a lot of different cases that have come through, not only Phoenix. What we’ve seen in these cases is a pattern of counseling people out. And that doesn’t fit in best practice,” Shah told 12 News earlier this year.
The law further clarifies that EMTs can still inform a patient about their right to accept or decline transportation to a hospital.
Phoenix fire previously told 12 News that its paramedics and EMTs were already following the state's protocols.
HB 2431 passed through the Arizona House of Representatives in a final vote of 34-17 before it was signed by the governor this week. Eight state representatives declined to make a final vote on the bill.
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