Palm Beach County unanimously advances major EMS ordinance rewrite, tightens oversight and experience rules

Palm Beach County commissioners voted unanimously on Nov. 4 to approve a preliminary reading and advertise a substantial revision to the county’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ordinance, after county staff summarized proposed changes and the board amended a management-experience requirement.

Stephanie Shanehau, director of public safety, told the board the rewrite — the first substantial overhaul since 2017 — clarifies definitions and strengthens oversight. “This is a major ordinance rewrite to ensure our EMS system maintains a high standard of service in Palm Beach County,” Shanehau said, noting the county is authorized under Florida Statute 401.25 to adopt standards and issue certificates of public convenience and necessity (COPCNs).

Key proposed changes in the draft ordinance include: limiting primary service providers to a county or municipality (one primary per service area); clarifying that Basic Life Support (BLS) transport units cannot be used for 9‑1‑1 scene responses; grandfathering four existing subscription-service communities but barring new subscription agreements; requiring hands-free mapping and automatic vehicle locators for secondary providers; and expanding data and auditing requirements.

Staff also proposed revised experience and financial requirements so new companies can apply without an extensive audited history while preserving county service quality. Initially, the draft required three years of executive management ALS transport experience for senior operations staff; commissioners asked staff to increase that to five years, citing comparisons to other jurisdictions. "We looked at other jurisdictions; Miami‑Dade requires five years," Shanehau said. The board voted to amend the draft to require five years of relevant executive-level experience and approved the item for public hearing on Dec. 2, 2025.

The rewrite also revises secondary-provider response-time metrics: for emergent calls the standard moves from a 10‑minute average to a 15‑minute response that must be met on 90% of monthly calls; urgent and routine scheduled categories received clarified readiness windows. Staff added an enforcement and complaint process including the director’s authority to suspend a COPCN and a BCC‑level process for revocation.

The board’s approval was for preliminary reading and permission to advertise the ordinance; the draft returns for final adoption at a noticed public hearing on Dec. 2, 2025.