(a) To enhance the provision of emergency medical care, each ambulance service shall be required to have a medical adviser. The adviser shall be a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state and subject to approval by the medical consultant of the Emergency Health Section of the Division of Physical Health of the Department of Human Resources. Ambulance services unable to obtain a medical adviser, due to unavailability or refusal of physicians to act as medical advisers, may request the district health director or his designee to act as medical adviser until the services of a physician are available.

(b) The duties of the medical adviser shall be to provide medical direction and training for the ambulance service personnel in conformance with acceptable emergency medical practices and procedures.

(c) This Code section shall not apply to any county having a population under 12,000 according to the United States decennial census of 1970 or any such future census.