Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 18 > Chapter 21 > Subchapter 5 - Communicable Disease Testing

• Bloodborne pathogen: means a pathogenic microorganism that is present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. See
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Department: means the Department of Health. See
• Employer: means the organization on whose behalf a worker is employed or volunteering when rendering health services to a source patient pursuant to this subchapter. See
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Health care worker: means any individual or employee of a health care provider who provides medical or other health services in the course of the worker's employment. See
• Health services: means activities and functions that are directly related to care, treatment, or diagnosis of a patient, including emergency medical treatment. See
• Manner sufficient to transmit: means consistent with current guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as determined by a physician licensed to practice medicine in Vermont. See
• Public safety personnel: means an individual employed or volunteering for a fire department, police department, or ambulance service. See
• Source patient: means an individual who, in the course of receiving health services, may have exposed a health care worker, public safety personnel, or emergency personnel to blood or bodily fluids in a manner sufficient to transmit a bloodborne disease. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Worker: means emergency personnel, health care worker, or public safety personnel. See