From the IAFC: Important source-patient notification language for emergency responders was reinstated this morning when President Obama signed into law the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. The IAFC and its EMS Section worked in a collaborative manner with the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Advocates for EMS and others to restore this important language.

“This legislation is so instrumental to the safety and wellbeing of our firefighters and paramedics, especially during critical times such as this when we see a rise in emerging diseases,” remarked Chief Garry Ludwig, EMS Section chair, upon learning of today’s signing.

Section 13 of the new law reinstates language that was removed in 2006. The new language requires emergency-response employers to have a designated officer for infection or exposure control to respond to requests from employees about exposures to communicable diseases and to obtain the disease status of the source patients in those exposures from the medical facility providing treatment. These notification provisions also provide coverage for state and local government employees in states without state occupational safety and health plans.

One addition to the new language allows the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to temporally suspend the notification provisions if the secretary deems it necessary and “as the circumstances reasonably require” in the event of a national public-health emergency. The secretary is required to notify Congress of such action and publish in the Federal Register a notice of the suspension.

The IAFC will work with HHS to help best define such circumstances and ensure emergency responders receive the necessary source-patient information they need for personnel safety.

In 1990, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (P.L. 101-381) was enacted with emergency response provisions focusing on emergency-response workforce safety. The notification language remained unchanged for 16 years until 2006. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-415) removed these pertinent sections when the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee decided to eliminate programs that had never been funded or reexamined in the previous two reauthorizations. This is noted in the applicable section of the committee report (H. Report 109-695) that accompanied H.R. 6143.