77-2. Franchise Required.

  1. No person, either as owner, agent or otherwise, shall furnish, operate, conduct, maintain, advertise or otherwise be engaged in or profess to be engaged in the business or service of emergency and/or nonemergency transportation of patients within the County of Henderson unless the person holds a valid permit for each ambulance used in such business or service issued by the Office of Emergency Medical Services of the North Carolina Department of Human Resources and an ambulance provider license and has been granted a franchise for the operation of such business or service by the County pursuant to this Chapter.
  2. No person shall operate an ambulance or drive, attend or permit a vehicle to be operated for ambulance purposes within the County of Henderson unless he or she holds a currently valid certificate as an ambulance attendant or emergency medical technician issued by the State of North Carolina, except pursuant to a mutual aid agreement entered into between Henderson County and an agency or entity licensed under standards comparable to those employed in this Chapter.
  3. No franchise shall be required for:
    1. Any entity rendering assistance at the request of Henderson County in the case of a major catastrophe or other emergency situation for which the services of Henderson County are insufficient or unable to cope.
    2. Any entity operated from a location or headquarters outside of Henderson County in order to transport patients who are picked up beyond the limits of Henderson County, but no such entity shall be used to pick up patients within the County of Henderson for transporting to locations within the County of Henderson unless it is rendering assistance as referred to in Subsection C (1).
    3. Law enforcement personnel.
    4. County-owned and -operated ambulances.
    5. Hospital transportation services for the purpose of patient transfer in which the service is exclusively owned and operated by one of the hospitals involved.
    6. Medical air ambulances which are properly licensed to provide emergency medical transportation services.