Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 66 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING DURABLE DO NOT RESUSCITATE ORDERS › Part I - Definitions › Section 12VAC5-66-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"Agent" means an adult appointed by the declarant under an
					 advance directive, executed or made in accordance with the provisions of §
					 54.1-2983 of the Code of Virginia to make health care decisions for him.
"Alternate Durable DNR jewelry" means a Durable DNR
					 bracelet or necklace issued by a vendor approved by the Virginia Office of
					 Emergency Medical Services. A Durable DNR Order must be obtained by the
					 patient, from a physician, to obtain Alternate Durable DNR jewelry.
"Board" means the State Board of Health.
"Cardiac arrest" means the cessation of a functional
					 heartbeat.
"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner.
"Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order" or "Durable DNR Order"
					 means a written physician's order issued pursuant to § 54.1-2987.1 of the
					 Code of Virginia in a form or forms authorized by the board to withhold
					 cardiopulmonary resuscitation from an individual in the event of cardiac or
					 respiratory arrest. For purposes of this chapter, cardiopulmonary resuscitation
					 shall include cardiac compression, endotracheal intubation and other advanced
					 airway management, artificial ventilation, defibrillation, administration of
					 cardiac resuscitative medications, and related procedures. As the terms
					 "advance directive" and "Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order" are used in this
					 article, a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order or other DNR Order is not and shall
					 not be construed as an advance directive. When used in these regulations, the
					 term "Durable DNR Order" shall include any authorized Alternate Durable DNR
					 jewelry issued in conjunction with an original Durable DNR Order. "Durable DNR
					 Order" shall also include a physician order for scope of treatment (POST) form.
					 Durable DNR orders including POST forms shall be completed and signed by a
					 licensed practitioner and signed by the patient or patient's authorized
					 representative.
"Emergency Medical Services" or "EMS" means the services
					 rendered by an agency licensed by the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical
					 Services, an equivalent agency licensed by another state or a similar agency of
					 the federal government when operating within this Commonwealth.
"Emergency medical services agency" or "EMS agency" means
					 any agency, licensed to engage in the business, service, or regular activity,
					 whether or not for profit, of transporting or rendering immediate medical care
					 to such persons who are sick, injured, wounded or otherwise incapacitated or
					 helpless.
"Incapable of making an informed decision" means the
					 inability of an adult patient, because of mental illness, intellectual
					 disability, or any other mental or physical disorder that precludes
					 communication or impairs judgment, to make an informed decision about
					 providing, withholding, or withdrawing a specific medical treatment or course
					 of treatment because he is unable to understand the nature, extent, or probable
					 consequences of the proposed medical decision, or to make a rational evaluation
					 of the risks and benefits of alternatives to that decision. For purposes of
					 this article, persons who are deaf or dysphasic or have other communication
					 disorders but who are otherwise mentally competent and able to communicate by
					 means other than speech, shall not be considered incapable of making an
					 informed decision. The determination that the patient is "incapable of making
					 an informed decision" shall be made in accordance with § 54.1-2983.2 of
					 the Code of Virginia.
"Office of EMS" or "OEMS" means the Virginia Office of
					 Emergency Medical Services. The Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services
					 is a state office located within the Virginia Department of Health
					 (VDH).
"Other Do Not Resuscitate Order" or "Other DNR Order" means
					 a written physician's order not to resuscitate a patient in the event of
					 cardiac or respiratory arrest on a form other than the authorized state
					 standardized Durable DNR Form under policies and procedures of the health care
					 facility to which the individual who is the subject of the order has been
					 admitted.
"Person authorized to consent on the patient's behalf"
					 means any person authorized by law to consent on behalf of the patient
					 incapable of making an informed decision or, in the case of a minor child, the
					 parent or parents having custody of the child or the child's legal guardian or
					 as otherwise provided by law.
"Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in
					 the Commonwealth of Virginia or in the jurisdiction where the treatment is to
					 be rendered or withheld.
"Qualified emergency medical services personnel" means
					 personnel certified to practice as defined by § 32.1-111.1 of the Code of
					 Virginia when acting within the scope of their certification.
"Qualified health care facility" means a facility, program,
					 or organization operated or licensed by the State Board of Health or by the
					 Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) or operated,
					 licensed, or owned by another state agency.
"Qualified health care personnel" means any qualified
					 emergency medical services personnel and any licensed health care provider or
					 practitioner functioning in any facility, program, or organization operated or
					 licensed by the State Board of Health or by DBHDS or operated, licensed, or
					 owned by another state agency.
"Respiratory arrest" means cessation of
					 breathing.
Statutory Authority: §§ 32.1-12 and 32.1-111.4
						of the Code of Virginia.