NY State Senate Bill 2025-S5621

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 26, 2025	referred to health

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add §3000-g, amd §3053, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S7614

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to prehospital emergency medical services for individuals in substance use recovery; requires policies, procedures, and protocols to be developed to identify individuals in substance use recovery and to avoid treatment that could compromise such individuals' recovery.

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5621

SPONSOR: ASHBY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to prehospital emer-
gency medical services for individuals in substance use recovery

 
PURPOSE:

To require that prehospital care includes a question of whether the
person self-identifies as a person in substance use recovery, and to
ensure prehospital care personnel are educated on how to treat these
patients in ways not to derail their recovery efforts, and how to docu-
ment it.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 is the Legislative Intent of the bill.

Section 2 amends the public health law to mandate the health department,
the state emergency medical services council and the regional emergency

medical services council update their policies for prehospital emergency
medical care and transportation related to the assessment and treatment
of patients who identify as a person in substance use recovery. Such
policies must include point-of-entry criteria and a plan for the triage
and transport of such patients.

Section 3 amends public health law to add to reporting requirements of
first response services and ambulances by requiring them to document on
their "detailed individual call reports" if a person identifies as a
person in substance use recovery.

Section 4 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Emergency personnel are trained to look for intoxication, but not
trained to ask a patient if they identify as a person in substance use
recovery. People in recovery work extremely hard to maintain recovery
and should not be placed in a situation where their recovery is compro-
mised. Emergency personnel need to be trained in how to communicate the
risks of certain medications that could compromise their recovery and
what possible alternatives are available. There also needs to be proper
documentation that the person identifies as a person in substance use
recovery, so that the transfer between ambulance and hospital records is
a smoother transition.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-24: S.7614, referred to Health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5621
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 26, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  ASHBY  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to prehospital  emer-
   gency medical services for individuals in substance use recovery
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds that emer-
 gency personnel are trained to look for intoxication, but not trained to
 ask a patient if they identify as a person in  substance  use  recovery.
 People  in  recovery work extremely hard to maintain recovery and should
 not be placed in a situation where their recovery  is  compromised.  The
 legislature  finds that emergency personnel need to be trained in how to
 communicate the risks of certain medications that could  compromise  the
 person's recovery and what possible alternatives are available.
   §  2.  The public health law is amended by adding a new section 3000-g
 to read as follows:
   § 3000-G. PREHOSPITAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES; SUBSTANCE USE RECOV-
 ERY. 1. THE DEPARTMENT, THE STATE  COUNCIL,  AND  THE  REGIONAL  COUNCIL
 SHALL INCLUDE IN THEIR POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND PROTOCOLS FOR PREHOSPI-
 TAL  EMERGENCY  MEDICAL  SERVICES  AND TRANSPORTATION, STANDARDS FOR THE
 ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT  OF  PATIENTS  WHO  IDENTIFY  AS  A  PERSON  IN
 SUBSTANCE  USE  RECOVERY. SUCH POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND PROTOCOLS SHALL
 INCLUDE POINT-OF-ENTRY CRITERIA AND PLANS FOR THE TRIAGE  AND  TRANSPORT
 OF  INDIVIDUALS  WHO  IDENTIFY AS A PERSON IN SUBSTANCE USE RECOVERY. AT
 MINIMUM SUCH POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND PROTOCOLS SHALL REQUIRE EMERGENCY
 MEDICAL SERVICES AND TRANSPORTATION PROVIDERS TO COMMUNICATE TO INDIVID-
 UALS WHO IDENTIFY AS A PERSON IN SUBSTANCE USE  RECOVERY  THE  RISKS  OF
 CERTAIN  MEDICATIONS THAT COULD COMPROMISE SUCH INDIVIDUALS' RECOVERY BY
 OFFERING ALTERNATE OPTIONS FOR TREATMENT AND INFORMING THE HOSPITAL THAT
 SUCH INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFIES AS A PERSON IN SUBSTANCE USE RECOVERY.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02997-01-5
 S. 5621                             2

 
   2. BEGINNING UPON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, THE  DEPARTMENT,
 THE  STATE  COUNCIL,  AND THE REGIONAL COUNCIL SHALL ANNUALLY REVIEW AND
 UPDATE, IF APPROPRIATE, THEIR POLICIES, PROCEDURES,  AND  PROTOCOLS  FOR
 PREHOSPITAL  EMERGENCY  MEDICAL  SERVICES  AND  TRANSPORTATION TO ENSURE
 INDIVIDUALS  WHO  IDENTIFY  AS  A  PERSON  IN SUBSTANCE USE RECOVERY ARE
 RECEIVING ADEQUATE INFORMATION PRIOR TO TREATMENT.
   § 3. Section 3053 of the public health law, as amended by chapter  445
 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
   §  3053.  Reporting.  1. Advanced life support first response services
 and ambulance services registered or certified pursuant to article thir-
 ty of this chapter shall submit detailed individual call  reports  on  a
 form to be provided by the department, or may submit data electronically
 in  a  format  approved by the department.   The state emergency medical
 services council, with the approval of the commissioner, may adopt rules
 and regulations permitting or requiring ambulance services whose  volume
 exceeds  twenty thousand calls per year to submit call report data elec-
 tronically.  Such rules shall define the data elements to be  submitted,
 and  may  include  requirements  that assure availability of data to the
 regional emergency medical advisory committee.
   2. SUCH INDIVIDUAL CALL REPORT FORM, AND SUCH FORM'S ALTERNATIVE ELEC-
 TRONIC FORMAT, SHALL INCLUDE  WHETHER  AN  INDIVIDUAL  IDENTIFIES  AS  A
 PERSON  IN  SUBSTANCE USE RECOVERY AND, IF KNOWN, SUCH INDIVIDUAL'S TYPE
 OF ADDICTION DISEASE.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Find your Senator and share your views on important issues.

Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S5621

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Actions

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Do you support this bill?

Get Status Alerts for 2025-S5621

Senate Bill S5621

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Jacob Ashby

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Actions

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S5621 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments