The following words and terms, when used in these sections,
shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
(1) Abandonment - Leaving a patient without appropriate
medical care once patient contact has been established, unless emergency
medical services personnel are following medical director's protocols,
a physician directive or the patient signs a release; turning the
care of a patient over to an individual of lesser education when advanced
treatment modalities have been initiated.
(2) Accreditation - Formal recognition by a national
association of a provider's service or an education program based
on standards established by that association.
(3) Act - Emergency Medical Services Act, Health and
Safety Code, Chapter 773.
(4) Administrator of Record (AOR) - The administrator
for an EMS provider who meets the requirements of Health and Safety
Code, §773.05712 and §773.0415.
(5) Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) -
An individual who is certified by the department and is minimally
proficient in performing the basic life support skills required to
provide emergency prehospital or interfacility care and initiating
and maintaining under medical supervision certain advanced life support
procedures, including intravenous therapy and endotracheal or esophageal
intubation.
(6) Advanced life support (ALS) - Emergency prehospital
or interfacility care that uses invasive medical acts and which would
include ALS assessment. The provision of advanced life support shall
be under the medical supervision and control of a licensed physician.
(7) Advanced life support (ALS) vehicle - A vehicle
that is designed for transporting the sick and injured and that meets
the requirements of §157.11(j)(2) of this title (relating to
Requirements for an EMS Provider License) as an advanced life support
vehicle and has sufficient equipment and supplies for providing advanced
level of care based on national standards and the EMS provider's medical
director approved treatment protocols.
(8) Advanced Life Support assessment - Assessment performed
by an AEMT or paramedic that qualify as advanced life support based
upon initial dispatch information, when it could reasonably be believed
that the patient was suffering from an acute condition that may require
advanced skills.
(9) Air ambulance provider - A person who operates/leases
a fixed-wing or rotor-wing air ambulance aircraft, equipped and staffed
to provide a medical care environment on-board appropriate to the
patient's needs. The term air ambulance provider is not synonymous
with and does not refer to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
air carrier certificate holder unless they also maintain and control
the medical aspects that are consistent with EMS provider licensure.
(10) Ambulance - A vehicle for transportation of sick
or injured person to, from or between places of treatment for an illness
or injury, and provide out of hospital medical care to the patient.
(11) Authorized ambulance vehicle - A vehicle authorized
to be operated by the licensed provider and that meets all criteria
for approval as listed in §157.11(e) of this title.
(12) Basic life support (BLS) - Emergency prehospital
or interfacility care that uses noninvasive medical acts. The provision
of basic life support will have sufficient equipment and supplies
for providing basic level care based on national standards and the
EMS provider's medical director approved treatment protocols.
(13) Basic life support (BLS) vehicle - A vehicle that
is designed for transporting the sick or injured and that has sufficient
equipment and supplies for providing basic life support based on national
standards and the EMS provider's medical director approved treatment
protocols.
(14) Basic trauma facility - A hospital designated
by the department as having met the criteria for a Level IV trauma
facility as described in §157.125 of this title (relating to
Requirements for Trauma Facility Designation). Basic trauma facilities
provide resuscitation, stabilization, and arrange for appropriate
transfer of major and severe trauma patients to a higher level trauma
facility, provide ongoing educational opportunities in trauma related
topics for health care professionals and the public, and implement
targeted injury prevention programs.
(15) Bypass - Direction given to a prehospital emergency
medical services unit, by direct/on-line medical control or predetermined
triage criteria, to pass the nearest hospital for the most appropriate
hospital/trauma facility. Bypass protocols should have local physician
input into their development and should be reviewed through the regional
performance improvement process.
(16) Candidate - An individual who is requesting emergency
medical services personnel certification or licensure, recertification
or relicensure from the Texas Department of State Health Services.
(17) Certificant - Emergency medical services personnel
with current certification from the Texas Department of State Health
Services.
(18) Comprehensive trauma facility - A hospital designated
by the department as having met the criteria for a Level I trauma
facility as described in §157.125 of this title. Comprehensive
trauma facilities manage major and severe trauma patients, provide
ongoing educational opportunities in trauma related topics for health
care professionals and the public, implement targeted injury prevention
programs, and conduct trauma research.
(19) Course medical director - A Texas licensed physician
approved by the department with experience in and current knowledge
of emergency care who shall provide direction over all instruction
and clinical practice required in EMS training courses.
(20) Credit hour - Continuing education credit unit
awarded for successful completion of a unit of learning activity as
defined in §157.32 of this title (relating to EMS Education Program
and Course Approval).
(21) Critically injured person - A person suffering
major or severe trauma, with severe multi system injuries or major
unisystem injury; the extent of the injury may be difficult to ascertain,
but which has the potential of producing mortality or major disability.
(22) Current - Within active certification or licensure
period of time.
(23) Department - The Texas Department of State Health
Services.
(24) Designated infection control officer - A designated
officer who serves as a liaison between the employer's employees who
have been or believe they have been exposed to a potentially life-threatening
infectious disease, through a person who was treated and/or transported,
by the EMS provider.
(25) Designation - A formal recognition by the department
of a hospital's trauma care capabilities and commitment.
(26) Distance learning - A method of learning remotely
without being in regular face-to-face contact with an instructor in
the classroom.
(27) Diversion - A procedure put into effect by a trauma
facility to ensure appropriate patient care when that facility is
unable to provide the level of care demanded by a trauma patient's
injuries or when the facility has temporarily exhausted its resources.
(28) Emergency call - A new call or other similar communication
from a member of the public, as part of a 9-1-1 system or other emergency
access communication system, made to obtain emergency medical services.
(29) Emergency care attendant (ECA) - An individual
who is certified by the department as minimally proficient to provide
emergency prehospital care by providing initial aid that promotes
comfort and avoids aggravation of an injury or illness.
(30) Emergency medical services (EMS) - Services used
to respond to an individual's perceived need for medical care and
to prevent death or aggravation of physiological or psychological
illness or injury.
(31) Emergency medical services (EMS) operator - A
person who, as an employee of a public agency, as that term is defined
by Health and Safety Code, §771.001, receives emergency calls.
(32) Emergency medical services and trauma care system
- An arrangement of available resources that are coordinated for the
effective delivery of emergency health care services in geographical
regions consistent with planning and management standards.
(33) Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel -
(A) emergency care attendant (ECA);
(B) emergency medical technician (EMT);
(C) advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT);
(D) emergency medical technician intermediate (EMT-I);
or
(E) emergency medical technician-paramedic (EMT-P);
or
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