Section 250.725  Notification of Emergency Personnel

a)         For purposes of this Section:

1)         "Vehicle Service Provider" means an entity licensed by the Department to provide emergency or non-emergency medical services in compliance with requirements in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act and the Emergency Medical Services, Trauma Centers, Pediatric Emergency and Critical Care Centers, Stroke Centers Hospital Code, and an operational plan approved by its EMS System(s), utilizing at least ambulances or specialized emergency medical service vehicles (SEMSV).  (Section 3.85(a) of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act)

2)         "Emergency Medical Services personnel" or "EMS personnel" means persons licensed as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)(First Responder), Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate (EMT-I), Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (A-EMT), Paramedic (EMT-P), Emergency Communications Registered Nurse (ECRN), Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse (PHRN), Pre-Hospital Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (PHAPRN), or Pre-Hospital Physician Assistant (PHPA) (Section 3.5 of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act)

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

b)         Each hospital shall establish procedures for providing notification to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, private emergency medical services providers, and ambulance personnel who have provided or about to provide transport services, emergency care, or life support services to a patient who has been diagnosed as having a dangerous communicable or infectious disease per NIOSH guidelines listed below.  (Section 6.08(a) of the Act) The procedures shall include at a minimum the requirements of this Section.

c)         Notification shall be required for all potentially life-threatening contagious diseases including but not limited to those listed in NIOSH Publication No. 2020-119 (see Part III. Guidelines Describing the Manner in Which Medical Facilities Should Make Determinations for Purposes of Section 2695B(d) (42 U.S.C. 300ff–133(d))) and for any biological agents and toxins pursuant to 7 CFR 331, 9 CFR 121, and 42 CFR 73

d)         The hospital shall send the letter of notification to exposed personnel no later than 48 hours after a confirmed diagnosis of any of the bloodborne or body-fluid borne (including gastrointestinal fluids) communicable diseases that require notification per subsection (c).

1)         The hospital shall attempt to make verbal communication, followed by written notification only if the police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, private emergency medical services providers, or ambulance personnel have indicated both verbally and on the ambulance run sheet that a reasonable possibility exists that they have had blood or bodily fluid contact with the patient, or if hospital personnel providing the notification have reason to know of a possible exposure.  (Section 6.08(c) of the Act).

2)         The hospital shall send the letter of notification no later than 48 hours after a confirmed diagnosis of any of the airborne or droplet-transmitted communicable diseases that require notification per subsection (c) and the hospital shall attempt to make verbal communication, followed by written notification.  (Section 6.08 (c-5) of the Act)

e)         Notification letters shall be sent to the designated officer at the municipal or private provider agencies listed on the ambulance run sheet.  Except in municipalities with a population over 1,000,000, a list attached to the ambulance run sheet shall contain all municipal and private provider agency personnel who have provided any pre-hospital care immediately prior to transport.  In municipalities with a population over 1,000,000, the ambulance run sheet shall contain the company number or unit designation number for any fire department personnel who have provided any pre-hospital care immediately prior to transport.  The letter shall state the following:

1)         The names of crew members listed on the attachment to the ambulance run sheet,

2)         the name of the communicable disease diagnosed, but shall not contain the patient's name  (Section 6.08(d) of the Act),

3)         The date the patient was transported,

4)         A statement that this information shall be maintained as a confidential medical record (See 77 Ill. Adm. Code 697.140),

5)         A statement that upon receipt of the notification letter, the applicable private provider agency or the designated infectious disease control officer of a municipal fire department or fire protection district shall contact all personnel involved in the pre-hospital or inter-hospital care and transport of the patient.

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

g)         Upon discharge of a patient with a communicable disease in a contagious state requiring transmission-based precautions, including gastrointestinal infections (e.g. shigellosis, Clostridiodes difficile, norovirus), respiratory infections, and XDRO organisms (e.g. C auris, carbapenemase-producing organisms, etc.) to emergency personnel, the hospital shall notify the emergency personnel of appropriate precautions against the communicable disease. 

h)         The hospital may, in its discretion, take any measures in addition to those required in Section 6.08 of the Act to notify police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and ambulance personnel of possible exposure to any communicable disease.  However, in all cases this information shall be maintained as a confidential medical record. (Section 6.08(f) of the Act)

(Source:  Amended at 49 Ill. Reg. 14395, effective October 27, 2025)