42 U.S.C. § 300ff–133 — Request for notification with respect to victims assisted

(a) Initiation of process by employee If an emergency response employee thinks they might have caught an infectious disease from a victim they treated, helped, or transported to a medical facility, the employee can ask their designated officer to look into it. The officer must then follow the steps in subsection (b). (b) Initial determination by designated officer The officer must: (1) gather the facts about how the employee might have been exposed; and (2) decide, using the disease list and guidelines from section 300ff–131(a), whether the employee would have been exposed if the victim had one of the listed diseases. (c) Submission of request to medical facility (1) If the officer decides exposure was possible, the officer must send the medical facility that treated the victim a written request for a response. (2) That request must be signed by the officer and describe the facts gathered under subsection (b)(1). (d) Evaluation and response regarding request to medical facility (1) The facility must evaluate the request using its own medical information about the victim and decide, using the same list and guidelines, whether the employee was exposed to a listed disease. (2) If the facility finds exposure happened, it must notify the officer in writing. (3) If it finds no exposure, it must inform the officer in writing of that too. (4)(A) If the facts given aren't enough to decide, the facility must tell the officer in writing that the facts are insufficient. (B)(i) If the facility has no information at all about whether the victim had a listed disease, it must tell the officer that in writing. (ii) If the facility later learns the victim did have the disease, it must then make the full determination and respond as this subsection requires. (e) Time for making response After getting a request, including one resubmitted under subsection (g)(2), the facility must respond as soon as practical, and no later than 48 hours after receiving it. (f) Death of victim of emergency (1) If the victim died at or before reaching the facility, and that facility gets a request under subsection (c), it must forward the request to whichever facility determined the cause of death, if that's a different facility. (2) Once that facility gets the forwarded request, it has the same duties as if it had received the original request. (g) Assistance of public health officer (1)(A) If a facility said the facts were insufficient, the local public health officer must evaluate the request and response, but only if the designated officer submits both documents and asks for the evaluation. (B) The public health officer must finish that evaluation and tell the designated officer the result as soon as practical, and no later than 48 hours after getting the request. (2)(A) If the evaluation finds the original facts actually were enough, the public health officer must resubmit the request to the facility on the officer's behalf, and the facility must then give the proper response. (B) If the evaluation finds the facts really were insufficient, the public health officer must advise the designated officer on how to gather better facts; then, once enough facts are collected, the public health officer resubmits the request, and the facility must respond.