P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 3675
The Medical Emergency Corps of Puerto Rico shall be headed by an Executive Director, who shall be appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Executive Director shall hold office until his successor is designated. Compensation for the office of Executive Director shall be fixed by the Governor, taking into account what has been established for similar offices in the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Executive Director shall be a physician specialized in Emergency Medicine or a licensed physician who holds a license to practice medicine in Puerto Rico and has at least four (4) years of experience rendering healthcare services in emergency rooms, as well as being knowledgeable and skilled in administration and all matters pertaining to the quality of the healthcare and paramedical services to be rendered.
The Executive Director shall determine the functional organization of the Medical Emergency Corps by regulation and establish the chain of command in case of absence, disability, or death. The Medical Emergency Corps shall be deemed to be an Individual Administrator in accordance with the provisions of §§ 1461 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Public Service Human Resources Administration Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”.
The Executive Director shall have the following powers, authorities, and duties:
(a) To oversee and ensure compliance with the due process of law in all matters related to regulations and adjudication in the Medical Emergency Corps.
(b) To adopt by regulation the organization and administration of the Medical Emergency Corps, as well as the obligations, responsibilities and conduct of his/her employees, and any other matter necessary and convenient to meet the ends and objectives of this chapter.
(c) To adopt, pursuant to the norms and regulations established by the Central Labor Advisory and Human Resource Administration Office, those rules and procedures as necessary for the administration of Medical Emergency Corps personnel, including all matters relative to admission requirements, appointments, transfers, working hours, specific norms for compensation, disciplinary measures, leave, and specific norms for promoting employees.
(d) To conduct investigations and examinations as necessary as to the actions of any Corps employee or as to the manner in which matters relative to the rendering of services are being administered in any region.
(e) To keep a register in which all emergencies tended to shall be recorded, as well as the facts relative to said emergencies, including statistics on the extent of said emergencies. Said register shall be replenished with the reports rendered by the officials in charge of each region. The aforementioned reports shall be public documents, except for those regulated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (Public Law 104-191).
(f) To conduct investigations as necessary to determine the cause or origin of the emergencies, as well as to prepare the corresponding reports on these cases without impairing the authorities held by the Puerto Rico Police and the Department of Justice to conduct investigations.
(g) To be in charge of the management and have absolute domain over medical emergency cases throughout the Island, while the emergency persists. If the medical emergency occurs within a municipality which provides municipal medical emergency services, the Executive Director shall coordinate with the Medical Emergency Director of said municipality in terms of the management of said emergency.
(h) To render to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Legislature, not later than January 31 of each year, a report which shall contain all activities carried out by the Corps during the preceding calendar year, together with the corresponding statistics.
(i) To solicit and receive donations in money and personal property from the federal government or from any natural person, public or private entity, whether in trust or in property, or otherwise. Provided, That these donations are to be used exclusively to meet the objectives of this chapter. When dealing with money or any other financial aid, the funds thus received shall be deposited into the Special Fund created under this chapter.
(j) To solicit and obtain technical services from any officials and employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico which, in his/her judgment, are necessary to attain the purposes of this chapter, after so authorized by the head of the agency concerned, after the employee’s working hours and without being subject to the provisions of § 551 of Title 3. He/she may also request from government agencies and these may authorize the assignment of public employees in said agency in order to attain the purposes of this chapter.
(k) To collaborate with and advise those persons who so request in the preparation of emergency plans and in the execution of drill exercises set by these plans.
(l) To contract, pursuant to the applicable laws and regulations, the technical and professional services he/she deems necessary to attain the purposes of this chapter.
(m) To enter into and execute, pursuant to applicable laws and regulations, those agreements, leases, contracts and other instruments as necessary or pertinent to discharge his/her powers and duties.
(n) To adopt rules and procedures to duly guarantee adequate safety conditions, discharge means, and for preventing medical emergencies in sports and recreational locations, industries, commercial establishments, schools, hotels, hospitals, and in buildings destined for exhibits, assemblies or public performances, multilevel buildings for commercial use, as well as common areas in multilevel buildings for residential use, public thoroughfares, as well as any other building, structure or land plot for a use other than residential.
(o) To appear in court only through the Secretary of Justice to file suit as appropriate under the corresponding laws and regulations.
(p) To ensure that insurance plans are billed for medical emergency services rendered within the territory of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its possessions.
(q) To adopt rules and procedures as needed for the implementation of preceding subsection (p) of this section.
(r) To prepare and administer the budget of the Corps and the funds which are allocated to or entrusted for administration by the Corps under any local or federal laws or from any other source. He/she shall establish an accounting system based on the provisions of the “Government of Puerto Rico Accounting Act”, §§ 283—283p of Title 3, which governs the accounting, administration and disbursement of public funds.
(s) To exercise the his/her appointing authority, under which he/she shall be able to appoint, contract, transfer, remove, and assign responsibilities and confer authorities onto the personnel of the Corps, based on criteria which propitiate the most efficient use of all resources.
(t) To delegate to his/her subordinates those authorities, powers, duties and responsibilities which he/she deems convenient in order to expedite administrative processing and the rendering of services.
(u) To formulate and submit the budget petition to the Office of Management and Budget of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(v) To gather and process statistical data and to render reports as required by the Secretary of Health.
(w) To contract personnel from other departments and agencies, instrumentalities, public corporations and municipalities outside their regular work hours when said personnel is indispensable for the operativity of the Medical Emergency Corps and its programs, after the head of the corresponding government entity has so authorized.
In terms of contracting technical and specialized personnel from other agencies, the Executive Director shall conduct efforts with the Central Labor Advisory and Human Resources Office and shall provide a written record of the efforts in which he/she has engaged to recruit the necessary personnel for the Medical Emergency Corps programs and the impossibility of recruiting personnel outside of government agencies.
(x) To establish, in coordination with the Department of Health and the 9-1-1 Call Answering Center, an annual educational media campaign to advise and educate the citizenry on the importance and convenience of using the 9-1-1 Call Answering Center properly and identifying when there is an actual emergency that requires the activation of the system. The educational media campaign and the informational material shall contain detailed information that shows the importance of using the 9-1-1 Emergency System properly and identifying when there is an emergency that requires the activation of the emergency system.
(y) Incorporate a satellite tracking system to identify the location of emergency medical units in order to respond more efficiently.
History —Sept. 30, 2004, No. 539, § 8; Feb. 9, 2011, No. 4, § 1; Feb. 25, 2011, No. 24, § 1; June 11, 2014, No. 63, § 1.