Sarah Courchaine

This bill would prevent paramedics and advanced EMTs from performing a service that is within their scope of practice when acting under the standing orders of a licensed physician. Therefore, I urge you to vote Inexpedient to Legislate. This would create an unreasonable obstacle for small healthcare businesses and the people who currently rely on them for IV therapy. I'm a client of one such business, and I've received IV therapy in the comfort of my own home for dehydration following viral illness, as well as for nausea and pain relief during an excruciating passage of a kidney stone. This care was administered by a professionally trained paramedic. It was far safer for them to come to me than it would have been for me to leave my house to seek treatment. It also saved me hours I would have spent collapsed in a crowded waiting room, and hundreds of dollars I would have been charged, as I do not have health insurance. When it comes to healthcare, New Hampshire needs more access to care, not less. We do not need to make things more difficult for ourselves by imposing unnecessary restrictions on licensed professionals administering IV therapy.