| (a) A facility shall provide to each patient, without
regard to the individual's ability to pay, an appropriate medical
screening, examination, and stabilization within the facility's capability,
including ancillary services routinely available to the facility,
to determine whether an emergency medical condition exists and shall
provide any necessary stabilizing treatment.
(b) The organization of the emergency services shall
be appropriate to the scope of the services offered. The services
shall be organized under the direction of a qualified physician member
of the medical staff who is the medical director or clinical director.
(c) A facility shall maintain patient medical records
for all emergency patients. The medical records shall contain patient
identification, complaints, name of physician, name of nurse, time
admitted to the emergency suite, treatment, time discharged, and disposition.
(d) Personnel.
(1) There shall be adequate medical and nursing personnel
qualified in emergency care to meet the written emergency procedures
and needs anticipated by the facility.
(2) There shall be on duty and on site at all times
at least one person qualified as determined by the medical staff to
initiate immediate appropriate lifesaving measures; and at least one
nurse with current advanced cardiac life support and pediatric advanced
life support certification.
(3) Qualified personnel must be physically present
in the emergency treatment area at all times.
(4) One or more physicians shall be on-site at all
times during facility hours of operation.
(5) Schedules, names, and telephone numbers of all
physicians and others on emergency call duty, including alternates,
shall be maintained. The facility shall retain the schedules for at
least one year.
(e) Adequate age-appropriate supplies and equipment
shall be available and in readiness for use. Equipment and supplies
shall be available for the administration of intravenous medications
as well as facilities for the control of bleeding and emergency splinting
of fractures. The emergency equipment shall be periodically tested
according to the policy adopted, implemented, and enforced by the
hospital.
(f) At a minimum, the age-appropriate emergency equipment
and supplies shall include the following:
(1) emergency call system;
(2) oxygen;
(3) mechanical ventilatory assistance equipment, including
airways, manual breathing bag, and mask;
(4) cardiac defibrillator;
(5) cardiac monitoring equipment;
(6) laryngoscopes and endotracheal tubes;
(7) suction equipment;
(8) emergency drugs and supplies specified by the medical
staff;
(9) stabilization devices for cervical injuries;
(10) blood pressure monitoring equipment; and
(11) pulse oximeter or similar medical device to measure
blood oxygenation.
(g) Facilities shall participate in the local Emergency
Medical Service (EMS) system, based on the facility's capabilities
and capacity, and the locale's existing EMS plan and protocols.
(h) Emergency services for sexual assault survivors.
The facility shall develop, implement, and enforce policies and procedures
to ensure after a sexual assault survivor presents to the facility
following a sexual assault, the facility shall provide the care specified
under Health and Safety Code, Chapter 323.
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