I. Each employer of emergency response/public safety workers shall identify a medical referral consultant who has agreed to accept referrals and to evaluate and follow up such workers’ unprotected exposures. The medical referral consultant shall be a licensed physician, a registered nurse, advanced practice registered nurse or licensed physician assistant. If none of these is available the employer shall request written approval from the department for an alternate. For purposes of this chapter, in such case involving an individual protected under RSA 508:12 the department shall act as the medical referral consultant.
II. The medical referral consultant shall:
(a) Receive emergency response/public safety worker incident report forms.
(b) Receive information from the infection control officer, the exposed worker’s private physician, or both, regarding the worker’s exposure to an infectious disease, as appropriate.
(c) Conduct a medical examination, evaluate the exposure, and give appropriate prophylactic treatment and follow-up treatment and advice, or, if the medical referral consultant is not a licensed physician, refer the exposed worker immediately to a licensed physician for such examination, evaluation, treatment and advice.
(d) Make all reasonable efforts to request and obtain a blood specimen from a source individual when, in the opinion of the medical referral consultant, a test on such blood specimen from a source individual when, in the opinion of the medical referral consultant, a test on such blood specimen is necessary in order to determine the proper prophylactic treatment or advice for the exposed worker, provided that the source individual or the source individual’s legal guardian consents to such test and the disclosure of such test results.
(e) Maintain a record relating to any emergency response/public safety worker’s exposure to an infectious disease. The manner of recordkeeping shall assure the confidentiality of all information.
Source. 1989, 374:1. 1995, 310:175. 1996, 145:2. 2009, 54:5. 2012, 152:4, eff. Jan. 1, 2013.