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out of such agreements are to be “made out of any appropriations usually available” to the
entity. 42 PS §7-107.
Whether a commercial ambulance company may be a “rescue company”
TransCare is a commercial ambulance company. According to the testimony of one
of its employees, its business generally involves transporting patients from nursing homes
to hospitals, from home to a dialysis center, or “wherever the patient needs to go, they take
them.” 43
It became involved in the transport of Bryson Murray in this case as a result of its
contract with UMMS to provide ground transportation services between area hospitals for
UMMS patients.
Commercial ambulance companies in Maryland are licensed and regulated by the
Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (“MIEMSS”). Maryland Code,
Education Article (“ED”), §13-515. There is no mention in the statute of a licensing
requirement for “rescue companies” or “rescue squads.” Rather, specifically excepted from
this regulation are ambulance services provided by, or operated under, the jurisdiction of
State or local government or volunteer fire or rescue companies. ED §13-515(a)(3)(ii);
42 State law makes provision for the appropriation of State and county funds to support
fire and rescue companies. See PS §8-101 et seq. (establishing Senator William H. Amoss
Fire, Rescue, and Ambulance Fund and providing for distribution of funds to “fire, rescue,
and ambulance companies” for specified purposes); see also PS §8-201 et seq. (establishing
Volunteer Company Assistance Fund to provide grants and loans “to ensure adequate fire
protection and rescue services in the State”); PS §8-301 et seq. (authorization of county loans
and grants to volunteer fire companies).
43 Deposition testimony of Christopher Ryan Barbour at pp. 13-14, submitted as an
exhibit to TransCare’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
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