Ryan White Bill Legislative Update

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment and Extension Act of 2009 passed the House yesterday by a vote of 408 to 9.  The Senate passed the bill earlier this week so the bill now goes to President Obama for his signature into law. There are several new additions to the Ryan White Act which affect emergency care – and specifically emergency responders.  

It is important to note that the 'list' established under Sec. 2695 is very powerful – it essentially determines what infectious diseases should be considered 'potentially life-threatening'. The list is also used to determine whether or not emergency responders must be notified of an exposure.  

The entire bill can be found at this link http://bit.ly/2YZs1o

Here are the sections affecting emergency care and emergency responders: 

The bill adds a new section to Ryan White – "Part G Notification of Possible Exposure to Infectious Diseases"  

Within 180 days after enactment, Section 2695 Requires the Secretary of HHS to complete the development of:

• a list of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases, including emerging infectious diseases, to which emergency response employees may be exposed in responding to emergencies (The list developed shall also include a specification of those infectious diseases on the list that are routinely transmitted through airborne or aerosolized means.)
• guidelines describing the circumstances in which such employees may be exposed to such diseases, taking into account the conditions under which emergency response is provided;
• guidelines describing the manner in which medical facilities should make determinations when an emergency responder is requesting a determination as to whether or not a patient he/she transported had an infectious disease
• This list will then be distributed to the public and the states
• NOTE: This list is very important because it is relied heavily upon in determining whether or not a responder has been exposed to an infectious disease.

The bill also reestablishes some of the notification provisions that were struck during the last Ryan White authorization. This is good news for emergency responders. Specifically, the bill requires Prompt notification – not later than 48 hours after determination is made – to emergency responders when:

• A patient is transported and it is determined that the patient has an airborne infectious disease AND WHEN
• A patient that is transported by emergency responders dies at or before reaching the medical facility, the medical facility ascertaining the cause of death shall notify the designated officer of the emergency response employees who transported the victim to the initial medical facility of any determination by the medical facility that the victim had an airborne infectious disease.

The bill also contains a provision for emergency responders to request a determination as to whether or not a patient had an infectious disease. Basically the provision states that:

• The employee must first make a request
• The request is then examined, facts are collected by a designated officer
• The designated officer then makes a determination – if the designated officer feels that an exposure may have occurred then he/she submits a request to the medical facility
• Once the medical facility receives the request, it has 48 hours to respond
• The medical facility will make a determination, based on the information possessed by the facility, regarding whether or not the emergency responder was exposed to an infectious disease that appears on the list (created above).
• The medical facility can make 3 determinations, Notification of Exposure, Finding of No Exposure, Insufficient information
• If a finding of insufficient information is made, the public health officer for the community in which the medical facility is located can also evaluate the request if the designated officer submits the request to him/her.

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Andrew R. Roszak, Esq.  JD MPA EMT-Paramedic
Senior Public Health Advisor
NAI Associates - Supporting the mission of:
Emergency Care Coordination Center
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
Department of Health & Human Services
Washington, D.C.
202.260.2091
http://www.hhs.gov/aspr/opeo/eccc/

Manchster Monarchs Appreciation Night

NHAEMT Annual Meeting

From the President -

 

The NHAEMT Annual Meeting schedule for Oct 22, 2009 , will be held at 1830 HRS, at the NH FST/EMS Building, Classroom 4.  Please RSVP Jennifer at usd2bfn@yahoo.com so she has an idea how many to expect.

 

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Reminder:  Nominations for Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer should be sent as soon as possible to Wes Whittier at wes@brookline.nh.us

 

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From the Secretary -

 

Since this is probably my last official communication, I wanted to thank you all for allowing me the pleasure of serving the membership of the NHAEMT as its' Secretary for the past several years.  Along with my previous roles (Secretary, President, and NAEMT Advisory Board Representative) over these many years, this has allowed me the continued privilege of working with each of you to help the NHAEMT reach its' Mission goals.  I have also had the additional honor of Life Membership bestowed by the membership and do not take that responsibility lightly.  I will continue to do everything I can to publicly promote EMS in a positive light, as well as the Mission and membership of the NHAEMT.

 

The time has come, however, that I must defer to the demands of other priorities in my life and cannot continue in my capacity as an Officer of the NHAEMT.  I will also be unable to attend the Annual Meeting due to other commitments I cannot change, thus my Annual Report will be submitted to the membership electronically within the week.  I will also submit a "hard copy" and all Association materials now in my possession to the President, prior to the meeting.  I will miss seeing you all at the meeting and would be happy to assist whomever takes on this position in getting "up to speed" after the election process is completed, if that person so desires. 

 

Finally, I truly appreciate the support and good wishes that have been sent in my direction these past weeks.  In return, I wish the all the members, and the NHAEMT itself, continued health, happiness, and success in the future.

 

Respectfully,

 

Kat

 

Katharine P. Rickey

Secretary, NHAEMT (outgoing) 

H1N1 Vaccine Update

EMS Community – updated information specific to H1N1 vaccine and vaccinations.  The primary distribution plan for the H1N1 vaccine targets hospitals and medical practices.  However, in a follow up with the Immunization Program staff at Dept of Health and Human Services it has been decided that EMS Units can apply for and become their own sites to receive the H1N1 vaccine and administer to EMS Providers (first responders with direct patient contact*).  That being said, here are your options:

1. EMS Units can go to their local hospital and work with them to get vaccinations for their providers (first responders with direct patient contact*)
2. EMS Units can apply to receive H1N1 vaccine, run their own clinic and administer the vaccine to their own providers and/or in collaboration with other EMS Units
3. You can approach the AHHR you are a part of and discuss with them the option of having an EMS POD, basically an amendment to the plan they have already

If you chose to run your own clinic and vaccinate your own providers (and/or a groups of EMS Units together), then you will need to complete the prerequisites that go along with protocol 5.12.  The waiving of prerequisites for that protocol by the Medical Control Board (MCB) was to meet the emerging needs of AHHR and their Points of Distribution (POD). EMS workers practicing under this waiver must work under the structure of an H1N1 POD established by an AHHR, there must be appropriate medical supervision, screening tools, storage plan etc.

If an EMS Unit wants to do this on their own, like seasonal flu and pneumoccocal vaccinations, follow the simple prerequisites so that all are protected and we don't lose this privilege.   I have also enclosed a previous e-mail about the subject for the sake of consistency.

I have included the Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory that was pushed out to all EMS late in August, as well as the registration materials to register and receive vaccine.  Be advised where Hospitals and All Health Hazard Regions (AHHR) are already pre-registered they may be willing to serve as a depot for the drop off of the vaccine.

Please remember, this is a fluid situation and every day, things will change.  Call Sue Prentiss for any questions that you may have.

*According to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Public Health Services