The bill under consideration, Substitute House Bill No. 5479, proposes changes to the designation of primary service area responders for advanced life support services at the University of Connecticut (UConn) campus in Storrs. Specifically, the bill requires the public health commissioner to designate the UConn fire department as the primary service area responder for advanced life support services on the Storrs campus, provided the department meets all the minimum qualifications for providing these services, except for the requirement to have an acute care hospital on the premises. This change is reflected by the insertion of new legal language into section 19a-177(10) of the 2024 supplement to the general statutes, with the effective date of the act being July 1, 2024.

The fiscal impact statement attached to the bill indicates that implementing these changes will result in costs of up to $500,000 annually beginning in FY 25 for the University of Connecticut. These costs are associated with hiring additional firefighters and acquiring necessary equipment to provide advanced life support services. The UConn Fire Department will need to provide these services 24/7, which requires a higher level of training and more equipment than they currently possess. The ongoing fiscal impact is expected to continue into the future, subject to inflation.