Section 518.2030  Notification of Emergency Personnel

a)         For purposes of this Section:

1)         "Emergency Services Provider Agency" means any entity that uses vehicles, personnel and equipment for the pre-hospital or inter-hospital transportation and care of patients requiring emergency care or life support services in conformance with the provisions of the Act.

2)         "Paramedic" means an emergency medical technician-paramedic licensed by the Department pursuant to Section 3.50 of the Act.

3)         "Ambulance Personnel" means any person employed by an emergency services provider agency who is or was involved in the pre-hospital or inter-hospital transportation and care of a patient requiring emergency care or life support services as an ambulance crew member, including the vehicle driver.

b)         Each freestanding emergency center (FEC) shall establish procedures for notifying police officers, paramedics and ambulance personnel who have provided, or are about to provide, emergency care or life support services to a patient who has been diagnosed as having a dangerous communicable or infectious disease. (Section 6.08(a) of the Hospital Licensing Act) The procedures shall include at a minimum the requirements of this Section.

c)         Notification shall be required for the following diseases:

1)         Rubella (including congenital rubella syndrome)

2)         Measles

3)         Tuberculosis

4)         Invasive meningococcal infections (meningitis or meningococcemia)

5)         Mumps

6)         Chickenpox

7)         Herpes Simplex

8)         Diphtheria

9)         Rabies (human rabies)

10)       Anthrax

11)       Cholera

12)       Plague

13)       Polio (Poliomyelitis)

14)       Hepatitis B

15)       Typhus (louse-borne)

16)       Smallpox

17)       Hepatitis non-A, non-B

18)       Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

19)       AIDS-related complex (ARC)

20)       Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection

d)         The freestanding emergency center (FEC) shall send a letter of notification to the emergency services provider agency within 72 hours after the FEC receives actual knowledge of a confirmed diagnosis of any of the communicable diseases listed in subsection (c) of this Section, other than AIDS, ARC or HIV infection, of any patient who has been transported to the FEC by police officers, paramedics or ambulance personnel.  (Section 6.08(c) of the Hospital Licensing Act)

e)         In the case of a confirmed diagnosis of AIDS, ARC, or HIV infection, the FEC shall send a letter of notification to the emergency services provider agency within 72 hours only if one or both of the following conditions exist:

1)         The police officers, paramedics or ambulance personnel have indicated on the ambulance run sheet that a reasonable possibility exists that they have had blood or body fluid contact with the patient.

2)         The FEC has reason to know of a possible exposure of the police officers, paramedics or ambulance personnel to the blood or body fluids of the patient.  (Section 6.08(c) of the Hospital Licensing Act)

f)          Notification letters shall be sent to the designated contact at the emergency services provider agency listed on the ambulance run sheet and shall include at least the following information. Such notification letters shall not contain the patient's name or any patient-identifying information.  (Section 6.08(d) of the Hospital Licensing Act)

1)         The names of the police officers, paramedics, ambulance personnel, and other crew members listed on the ambulance run sheet,

2)         The name of the communicable disease diagnosed,

3)         The date the patient was transported,

4)         A statement that this information shall be maintained as a confidential medical record, and

5)         A statement that upon receipt of the notification letter, the provider agency shall contact all personnel involved in the pre-hospital or inter-hospital care and transport of the patient.  (Section 6.08(d) of the Hospital Licensing Act)

g)         Upon discharge of a patient with a communicable disease listed in subsection (c) of this Section or below to emergency personnel, the FEC shall notify the emergency personnel of appropriate precautions against the communicable disease, but shall not identify the name of the patient.  (Section 6.08(e) of the Hospital Licensing Act)

1)         Typhoid fever

2)         Amebiasis

3)         Shigellosis

4)         Salmonellosis

5)         Giardiasis

6)         Hepatitis A

h)         The FEC may take any measures in addition to those required in this Section which it considers necessary or useful to notify police officers, paramedics or ambulance personnel of possible exposure to any communicable disease. (Section 6.08 of the Hospital Licensing Act) However, such measures shall not violate the confidentiality of the medical record of the patient, or conflict with the provisions of this Section.