Texas Health and Safety Code 81.048 – Notification of Emergency Response Employee or Volunteer
(a) The executive commissioner shall:
(1) designate certain reportable diseases for notification under this section; and
(2) define the conditions that constitute possible exposure to those diseases.
(b) Notice of a positive or negative test result for a reportable disease designated under Subsection (a) shall be given to an emergency response employee or volunteer as provided by this section if:
(1) the emergency response employee or volunteer delivered a person to a hospital as defined by § 74.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code;
(2) the hospital has knowledge that the person has a reportable disease and has medical reason to believe that the person had the disease when the person was admitted to the hospital; and
(3) the emergency response employee or volunteer was exposed to the reportable disease during the course and scope of the person’s employment or service as a volunteer.
Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 81.048
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) Notice of the possible exposure shall be given:
(1) by the hospital to the local health authority;
(2) by the hospital to the designated infection control officer of the entity that employs or uses the services of the affected emergency response employee or volunteer; and
(3) by the local health authority or the designated infection control officer of the entity that employs or uses the services of the affected emergency response employee or volunteer to the employee or volunteer affected.
(d) A person notified of a possible exposure under this section shall maintain the confidentiality of the information as provided by this chapter.
(e) A person is not liable for good faith compliance with this section.
(f) This section does not create a duty for a hospital to perform a test that is not necessary for the medical management of the person delivered to the hospital.
(g) A hospital that gives notice of a possible exposure under Subsection (c) or a local health authority or designated infection control officer that receives notice of a possible exposure under Subsection (c) may give notice of the possible exposure to a person other than the affected emergency response employee or volunteer if the person demonstrates that the person was exposed to the reportable disease while providing emergency care. The executive commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this subsection.