Texas Administrative Code › Title 25 - HEALTH SERVICES › Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES › Chapter 157 - EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE › Subchapter A - EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES - PART A › Section 157.2 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
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
(F) licensed paramedic.