Montana Code 50-16-702. Notification of exposure to infectious disease — report of exposure to disease
50-16-702. Notification of exposure to infectious disease — report of exposure to disease. (1) (a) If an emergency services provider acting in an official capacity attends a patient prior to or during transport or assists in transporting a patient to a health care facility and the emergency services provider has had an exposure, the emergency services provider may request the designated officer to submit the form required by department rule to the health care facility on the emergency services provider’s behalf. The form must be provided for in rules adopted by the department and must include the emergency services provider’s name and other information required by the department, including a description of the exposure. The designated officer shall submit the completed form to the health care facility receiving the patient as soon as possible after the request for submission by the emergency services provider. Submission of the form to the health care facility is an indication that the emergency services provider was exposed and a verification that the designated officer and the emergency services provider believe that the emergency services provider was exposed.
Terms Used In Montana Code 50-16-702
- Airborne infectious disease: means an infectious disease transmitted from person to person by an aerosol, including but not limited to infectious tuberculosis. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Department: means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Designated officer: means the emergency services organization's representative and the alternate whose names are on record with the department as the persons responsible for notifying an emergency services provider of exposure. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Emergency services organization: means a public or private organization that provides emergency services to the public. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Emergency services provider: means a person employed by or acting as a volunteer with an emergency services organization, including but not limited to a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency care provider, corrections officer, or ambulance service attendant. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Exposure: means the subjecting of a person to a risk of transmission of an infectious disease through the commingling of the blood or bodily fluids of the person and a patient or in another manner as defined by department rule. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Health care facility: has the meaning provided in 50-5-101 and includes a public health center as defined in 7-34-2102. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Infectious disease: means human immunodeficiency virus infection, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, communicable pulmonary tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis, and any other disease capable of being transmitted through an exposure that has been designated by department rule. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Patient: means an individual who is sick, injured, wounded, or otherwise incapacitated or helpless. See Montana Code 50-16-701
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(b)If the exposure described on the form occurred in a manner that may allow infection by HIV, as defined in 50-16-1003, by a mode of transmission recognized by the U.S. department of health and human services, centers for disease control and prevention, then submission of the form to the health care facility constitutes a request to the patient’s physician to perform an HIV diagnostic test pursuant to 50-16-1014.
(c)Upon receipt of the report of exposure from a designated officer, the health care facility shall notify the designated officer in writing whether or not a determination has been made that the patient has or does not have an infectious disease. If a determination has been made and the patient has been found:
(i)to have an infectious disease, the information required by 50-16-703 must be provided by the health care facility;
(ii)to not have an infectious disease, the date on which the patient was transported to the health care facility must be provided by the health care facility.
(2)If a health care facility receiving a patient determines that the patient has an airborne infectious disease, the health care facility shall, within 48 hours after the determination was made, notify the designated officer and the department of that fact. The notice to the department must include the name of the emergency services organization that transported the patient to the health care facility. The department shall, within 24 hours after receiving the notice, notify the designated officer of the emergency services provider who transported the patient.
(3)A designated officer who receives the notification from a health care facility required by 50-16-703(2) or by subsection (1)(c) of this section shall immediately provide the information contained in the notification to the emergency services provider for whom the report of exposure was filed or who was exposed to a patient with an airborne infectious disease.