West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 95 - Jails And Prisons Standards Commission › Title 95 - LEGISLATIVE RULE JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY STANDARDS COMMISSION › Series 95-03 - Minimum Standards For Construction, Operation And Management Of Holding Facilities › 12-HOUR HOLDING FACILITIES › Section 95-3-29 - Medical and Health Care Services

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
29.1. Emergency
				  Services. There shall be 24 hour emergency medical care available. The
				  responsible physician shall approve a plan providing for the use of emergency
				  transportation, use of a local hospital emergency department of appropriate
				  health facility with emergency on-call physician services, procedures for the
				  transfer of inmates to other medical facilities and security
				  procedures.
29.2. Responsible
				  Physician. A physician shall be designated to approve health care policies,
				  procedures and agreements which can include use of hospital emergency rooms.
				  Each facility shall have agreements for 24 hour emergency medical coverage. All
				  physician and dentists examining or treating inmates shall be licensed to
				  practice in the State of West Virginia.
29.3. Medical Autonomy and Facility
				  Administration. Medical decisions shall be made only by the physician or
				  designee(s). It shall be made clear to the health authorities and physicians
				  that security regulations which apply to the non-medical staff also apply to
				  them. They will be provided with a list of these regulations and an orientation
				  to the facility system.
29.4.
				  Notification of Next of Kin. Any inmate having any serious illness to injury or
				  who dies while incarcerated shall have his/her next of kin or legal guardian
				  notified by the facility administrator or the physician.
29.5. Postmortem Examination. In the event of
				  an inmate death, the state medical examiner shall be notified immediately. If
				  the cause of death is unknown, or the death occurred under suspicious
				  circumstances or the inmate was unattended from the standpoint of not being
				  under current medical care, a postmortem examination shall be
				  performed.
29.6. Minimum Staff
				  Training Requirements. Health trained staff is defined as personnel who have
				  certified first aid and CPR training and also have received information
				  regarding the population (including depression and chemical dependence), basic
				  management of seizures, medical administration, health record maintenance,
				  recognition of potential suicides, and procedures for patient transfer to
				  appropriate medical facilities or health care providers. Each shift shall
				  include at least one member who has become health-trained as described
				  above.
29.7. Prohibition. Inmates
				  may not be used in the performance of any medical or health care
				  services.
29.8. Receiving Medical
				  Screening. Every person taken into custody and admitted to the facility other
				  than from another correctional facility shall be medically screened by
				  health-trained staff (see Section 11.6). This receiving medical screening must
				  include inquiry and observations sufficient to identify inmates in need of
				  immediate medical attention (within the 12 hour holding period) or those
				  requiring medical isolation or special observation. Particular attention must
				  be directed toward the identification and appropriate disposition or persons
				  under the influence of alcohol or other drugs and those who may be suicidal.
				  Inmates requiring medical or psychiatric attention shall be referred for
				  emergency or urgent care. Those requiring medical isolation or special
				  observation shall be isolated and/or observed.
29.9. Access to Treatment. All inmates
				  initially admitted to the holding facility shall be informed of their right to
				  emergency medical care. Inmates transferred from another correctional facility
				  shall be provided as scheduled any necessary medications or care ordered by
				  health care providers at the facility from which they originated.
29.10. Administration of Medication. Persons
				  administering medications shall do so under the authority of a physician and
				  shall have received training appropriate for their assignment.
29.11. Health Records. A health record shall
				  be established on every inmate at the time of his/her receiving screening or at
				  the time or transfer for off-site care. Documentation of any off-site
				  examination or treatment shall be made in the health record. Copies of health
				  records shall accompany inmates transferred from the holding facility to
				  another correctional facility.
29.12. Confidentiality. The inmate's medical
				  information, records and confidences entrusted to a physician or other medical
				  care professional in the course of screening, examination or treatment are
				  confidential and shall not be disclosed to anyone except:
29.12.a. With the inmate's informed consent;
				  or
29.12.b. Where the law requires
				  disclosure, e.g., reporting of communicable diseases; or
29.12.c. When the security of the institution
				  or the safety of the individual requires disclosure and then only to the extent
				  necessary for the protection of the inmate and the security of the facility;
				  or
29.12.d. The chief
				  administrative officer can review medical records but must maintain their
				  confidentiality except as provided above.