21662.4
. (a) Emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes by law
enforcement, firefighting, military, or other persons who provide
emergency flights for medical purposes are exempt from local
ordinances adopted by a city, county, or city and county, whether
general law or chartered, that restrict flight departures and
arrivals to particular hours of the day or night, that restrict the
departure or arrival of aircraft based upon the aircraft's noise
level, or that restrict the operation of certain types of aircraft.
(b) As used in this section, "emergency aircraft flights for
medical purposes" are those flights in which undue delay would
threaten a patient's life. "Emergency aircraft flights for medical
purposes" include, but are not limited to, flights for the
transportation of any of the following:
(1) Patients accompanied by licensed or certificated medical
attendants such as paramedics, nurses, physicians, and respiratory
therapists.
(2) Surgical transplant teams for the purpose of procuring human
organs for reimplantation in recipients.
(3) Organ procurement agency coordinators responding to a
potential donor.
(4) Temporarily viable human organs such as a heart, liver, lungs,
kidneys, and pancreas, and human tissue, blood, or blood components.
(5) Human tissue and blood samples for clinical testing to
determine compatibility between a donor and a recipient.
(6) Mechanical adjuncts or biological replacements for human
organs.
(7) Medical equipment and supplies.
(8) Aircraft or equipment used during a medical emergency, or
emergency personnel and first responders involved in treating the
medical emergency, for the purpose of returning to its base of
operation.
"Emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes" do not include
the transportation of medical personnel to attend seminars,
conferences, or speaking appearances in which undue delay would not
jeopardize any patient's medical condition.
(c) (1) Written information concerning the emergency shall be
submitted to the airport proprietor for all emergency aircraft
flights within 72 hours prior or subsequent to the departure or
arrival of the aircraft. For all emergency aircraft flights for
medical purposes, the information shall include the patient's name
and address, the names of medical attendants or personnel and the
discipline in which they are licensed or hold a certificate to
practice, a signed statement by the attending physician specifying
that a medical emergency was involved, the requesting medical
facility or agency, the intended destination, the type and
registration number of the aircraft, and the names of all flight crew
members, provided that the disclosure is authorized by and made in a
manner consistent with the standards with respect to the privacy of
individually identifiable health information of Title II (commencing
with Section 200) of the federal Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191), the regulations
issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services
pursuant to that act (45 C.F.R. Pts. 160 and 164), and the
Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (Part 2.6 (commencing with
Section 56) of Division 1 of the Civil Code).
(2) This subdivision does not apply to emergency aircraft flights
for medical purposes by law enforcement, firefighting, or military
personnel.
(d) Any airport that incurs additional expenses in order to
accommodate the arrival or departure of emergency aircraft flights
for medical purposes may charge the patient on whose behalf the
flight is made, or any organization or entity which has volunteered
to reimburse the airport, for those expenses.
(e) For emergency aircraft flights for medical purposes, when two
airports are located in the same geographical area, and one of the
airports is a "closed" or restricted airport, the Legislature
encourages the use of the "open" or unrestricted airport when
feasible, rather than using the "closed" or restricted airport.
(f) When leasing aircraft for flights for emergency medical
purposes, the Legislature encourages the use, when feasible, of
aircraft which comply with local noise ordinances.