| (i) To facilitate the care of ventilator-dependent
children or children with tracheostomies, a facility must group those
children in rooms contiguous or in close proximity to each other.
An exception to this rule is children who are able to be schooled
off-site.
(ii) Facilities must assure that alarms on ventilators,
apnea monitors, and any other such equipment uniquely identify the
child or the child's room.
(iii) A facility caring for children with tracheostomies
requiring daily care (including ventilator-dependent children with
tracheostomies) must have 24 hour a day on-site respiratory therapy
staff in numbers sufficient to provide a safe ratio of respiratory
therapist per these residents. For the purposes of this rule, respiratory
therapy staff is defined as a registered respiratory therapist (RRT),
a certified respiratory therapy technician (CRT), or a licensed nurse
whose primary function is respiratory care.
(I) If the facility cares for nine or more children
with tracheostomies requiring daily care (including ventilator-dependent
children with tracheostomies), the facility must maintain a ratio
of no less than one respiratory therapy staff per nine tracheostomy
residents 24 hours a day.
(II) If the facility cares for six or more ventilator
dependent children, the facility must:
(-a-) designate a respiratory therapy supervisor, either
on staff or contracted who must be credentialed by the National Board
for Respiratory Care (either CRT or RRT).
(-b-) provide and document that all respiratory therapy
staff is trained in the care of children who are ventilator dependent.
This training must be reviewed annually.
(-c-) assure that appropriate care, maintenance, and
disinfection of all ventilator equipment and accessories occurs.
|
| Source Note: The provisions of this §554.901 adopted to be effective May 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 2393; amended to be effective May 15, 1998, 23 TexReg 4572; amended to be effective March 24, 2020, 45 TexReg 2020; transferred effective January 15, 2021, as published in the Texas Register December 11, 2020, 45 TexReg 8871 |
