The release of a draft ambulance standard being developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has been delayed due to questions about copyrighted material.

Larry Stewart, the NFPA's liaison to the committee developing the ambulance standard, said the issue arose during a committee vote on the draft. One member abstained, he said, over concerns that some crash-testing information included in the draft might contain copyrighted text.

Stewart said the section in question was removed at the suggestion of the NFPA's general counsel, but a committee vote on that version of the draft document failed to pass. The NFPA's legal staff is reviewing the matter before another vote is taken, he said.

With any luck, Stewart said, the draft standard should be available for public comment by mid-October. He said the delay should not change the committee's scheduled meeting in February 2011 to address public proposals for the document.

Once approved, the document will be known as the NFPA 1917 Standard for Automotive Ambulance. It is intended to replace the federal KKK-A-822 regulation that was developed for a niche government market and eventually shoehorned into nationwide use.

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