A bill approved by a House committee on Tuesday, but destined to be changed to appease the Kentucky Medical Association, would make the services self regulating.

Under the law now, two agencies -- the Cabinet for Health Services and the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure -- oversee parts of the emergency medical field.

"We're constantly being pulled back by people who are not out in the field, doing the job," Maj. Ira Dyer, of the Louisville Fire Department's EMS bureau, told the Health and Welfare Committee.

The bill by Rep. Steve Nunn, R-Glasgow, would create a state board of emergency medical services. It would be in charge of training and certification and would administer the funding of local EMS units.

In the bill's present form, only one of the EMS board's 13 members would be a medical doctor. Physicians said they needed more of a voice, particularly in developing standards and treatment protocols.

"It's essentially a practice of emergency medicine, taken out in the field," Dr. Tim Price, an emergency medicine specialist, told the committee.