Legislation signed into law yesterday by Gov. Butch Otter regarding “time-sensitive emergencies” will save an estimated 100 lives a year in Idaho, according to House Minority Leader John Rusche, D-Lewiston, a physician. Rusche co-sponsored the bill, SB 1329, with the other two medical doctors who serve in the Legislature – Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, and Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow – and Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian; it’s the result of six months of work by the state Health Quality Planning Commission and numerous stakeholders on improving procedures for dealing with patients suffering from trauma, stroke and heart attack, three of the state’s top five causes of death.

Emergency medical service providers, hospitals, health care providers, insurers, rehab providers, lawmakers and community members all worked on the legislation, which seeks to “get the right patient to the right place in the right time,” according to the bill’s Statement of Purpose. “It will be well worth the effort, and can be expected to reduce trauma deaths by 15 percent – about 100 per year – and decrease the disability from strokes and heart attacks,” Rusche said. “Idaho will be joining 48 other states with organized emergency care systems. It is about time.” The measures outlined in the bill are voluntary for hospitals.