CALL TO ACTION House Bill 2059 is an excellent bill that would require healthcare “practitioners” in Texas to complete a human trafficking awareness training in order to recertify their license.
WHAT IS THE ISSUE? Did you know that EMS is NOT considered “practitioners” in Texas? This means this Bill would not apply to the EMS licensing requirements. This is not by intent, but most likely due to nomenclature. The spirit of the bill absolutely would include EMS providers, but the legislators are most likely unaware that EMS is being excluded. We need to make them aware!
Did you also know that human trafficking awareness is NOT required for EMS initial education? Although some programs may include this topic, it is far and few between.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Public comment is open until September 14th and your comments are needed! All you have to do is send your public comment to this email! You do NOT need to be an EMT to send your comment in!
Send public comment asking to "include EMS to HB 2059" to: HHSRulesCoordinationOffice@hhsc.state.tx.us
House Bill 2059 info, search: texas proposed title 26 house bill 2059 public comment
EDIT: To clarify, this is not a new bill, this is an amendment to expand who the law includes. The complexity is that EMS is under TxDOT, not Tx HHSC and this is a Tx HHSC bill that introduces additional complexities.