Wash. Rev. Code § 18.73.270

Current through 2024

Section 18.73.270 - Disclosure of information by emergency medical personnel-Violent injuries-Immunity

(1) Except when treatment is provided in a hospital licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW, a *physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic, emergency medical technician, or first responder who renders treatment to a patient for (a) a bullet wound, gunshot wound, powder burn, or other injury arising from or caused by the discharge of a firearm; (b) an injury caused by a knife, an ice pick, or any other sharp or pointed instrument which federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities reasonably believe to have been intentionally inflicted upon a person; (c) a blunt force injury that federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities reasonably believe resulted from a criminal act; or (d) injuries sustained in an automobile collision, shall disclose without the patient's authorization, upon a request from a federal, state, or local law enforcement authority as defined in **RCW 70.02.010(3), the following information, if known:

(i) The name of the patient;

(ii) The patient's residence;

(iii) The patient's sex;

(iv) The patient's age;

(v) The patient's condition or extent and location of injuries as determined by the *physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic, emergency medical technician, or first responder;

(vi) Whether the patient was conscious when contacted;

(vii) Whether the patient appears to have consumed alcohol or appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs;

(viii) The name or names of the *physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic, emergency medical technician, or first responder who provided treatment to the patient; and

(ix) The name of the facility to which the patient is being transported for additional treatment.

(2) A *physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic, emergency medical technician, first responder, or other individual who discloses information pursuant to this section is immune from civil or criminal liability or professional licensure action for the disclosure, provided that the *physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic, emergency medical technician, first responder, or other individual acted in good faith and without gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.

(3) The obligation to provide information pursuant to this section is secondary to patient care needs. Information must be provided as soon as reasonably possible taking into consideration a patient's emergency care needs.

(4) For purposes of this section, "a *physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic" has the same meaning as in RCW 18.71.200.

RCW 18.73.270

2009 c 359 § 1.

Reviser's note: *(1) The term "physician's trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technician and paramedic" was changed to "physician's trained advanced emergency medical technician and paramedic" by 2015 c 93 s 2.

**(2) RCW 70.02.010 was amended by 2013 c 200 s 1, changing subsection (3) to subsection (12). RCW 70.02.010 was subsequently amended by 2018 c 201 s 8001, changing subsection (12) to subsection (13).