Public Act No. 09-76 effective as of October 1, 2009, concerns exposure to infectious disease and emergency responders. Hospitals are required to verbally notify the designated officer of an emergency service organization (ESO) no later than 48 hours after making a diagnosis and shall make such notification in writing not later than 72 hours after such diagnosis when a patient the ESO attended, treated, assisted, handled or transported to the hospital is diagnosed w/ infectious pulmonary tuberculosis (but not other infectious diseases). The law prohibits the hospital from revealing the patient’s identity

The law requires each ESO to designate an employee or volunteer to (1) receive the notification; (2) initiate notification requests in cases where an ESO member or volunteer reports possible exposure to an infectious disease, including TB; and (3) perform related functions with regard to infectious diseases. The bill allows the designee to name another employee or volunteer to perform these functions if he or she is unavailable.

If a designated officer determines there may have been exposure and makes a written request, the request is valid for 10 days. If at the end of the ten day period, no test has been performed to detect the presence of an infectious disease, no diagnosis is made or the test is negative, the hospital shall notify the designated officer without revealing the patient’s identity. Any hospital that receives a written request shall give an oral notification of the presence of an infectious disease or a confirmed positive test result no later than 48 hours after receiving such request as well as written notification no later than 72 hours after receiving the request. The notification shall include the name of the infectious disease, the date the patient was attended, treated, assisted, handled or transported by the ESO but shall not disclose the name of the patient.

Under the law, “infectious diseases” include (1) infectious pulmonary tuberculosis; (2) hepatitis A, B, or C; (3) human immunodeficiency virus (“HIV”), including ‘AIDS”; (4) diphtheria; (5) pandemic flu; (6) methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); hemorrhagic fevers; (8) meningococcal disease; (9) plague; and (10) rabies. “Exposure” means “percutaneous or mucous membrane exposure to the blood, semen, vaginal secretions, or spinal synovial, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial or amniotic fluid of another person.