2014 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 63. Public Health and Safety
§63-6104. Definitions.

As used in the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act:

1. “Bioterrorism” means the intentional use of any microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any such microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, to cause death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism in order to influence the conduct of government or to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

2. “Catastrophic health emergency” means an occurrence of imminent threat of an illness or health condition that:

a.is believed to be caused by any of the following:

(1)a nuclear attack,

(2)bioterrorism,

(3)a chemical attack, or

(4)the appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent or biological toxin, and

b.poses a high probability of any of the following harms:

(1)a large number of deaths in the affected population,

(2)a large number of serious or long-term disabilities in the affected population, or

(3)widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of substantial future harm to a large number of people in the affected population;

3. “Chain of custody” means the methodology of tracking specimens for the purpose of maintaining control and accountability from initial collection to final disposition of the specimens and providing for accountability at each stage of collecting, handling, testing, storing, and transporting the specimens and reporting test results;

4. “Contaminated waste” means:

a.“biological waste”, which includes blood and blood products, excretions, exudates, secretions, suctioning and other body fluids, and waste materials saturated with blood or body fluids,

b.“cultures and stocks”, which includes etiologic agents and associated biologicals, including specimen cultures and dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures, wastes from production of biologicals and serums, and discarded live and attenuated vaccines,

c.“pathological waste”, which includes biopsy materials and all human tissues, anatomical parts that emanate from surgery, obstetrical procedures, necropsy or autopsy and laboratory procedures, and animal carcasses exposed to pathogens in research and the bedding and other waste from such animals, but does not include teeth or formaldehyde or other preservative agents, and

d.“sharps”, which includes needles, intravenous (IV) tubing with needles attached, scalpel blades, lancets, breakable glass tubes, and syringes that have been removed from their original sterile containers;

5. “Health care facility” means any nonfederal institution, building, or agency or portion thereof, whether public or private or for profit or nonprofit, that is used, operated, or designed to provide health services, medical treatment, or nursing, rehabilitative, or preventive care to any person or persons. This includes, but is not limited to: ambulatory surgical facilities, hospitals, infirmaries, intermediate care facilities, kidney dialysis centers, long-term care facilities, mental health centers, outpatient facilities, public health centers, rehabilitation facilities, residential treatments facilities, skilled nursing facilities, special care facilities, medical laboratories, and adult day-care centers. This also includes, but is not limited to, the following related property when used for or in connection with the foregoing: laboratories; research facilities; pharmacies; laundry facilities; health personnel training and lodging facilities; patient, guest, and health personnel food service facilities; and offices and office buildings for persons engaged in health care professions or services;

6. “Health care provider” means any person or entity who provides health care services including, but not limited to, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered and other nurses, paramedics, emergency medical or laboratory technicians, and ambulance and emergency medical workers;

7. “Infectious disease” means a disease caused by a living organism or other pathogen, including a fungus, bacillus, parasite, protozoan, or virus. An infectious disease may, or may not, be transmissible from person to person, animal to person, or insect to person;

8. “Isolation” means the physical separation and confinement of an individual or groups of individuals who are infected or reasonably believed to be infected with a transmissible or possibly transmissible disease from nonisolated individuals, to prevent or limit the transmission of the disease to nonisolated individuals;

9. “Mental health support personnel” means, but is not limited to, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and volunteer crisis counseling groups;

10. “Protected health information” means any information, whether oral, written, electronic, visual, or any other form, that relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health status, condition, treatment, service, products purchased, or provision of care of an individual, and that reveals the identity of the individual whose health care is the subject of the information, or where there is a reasonable basis to believe such information could be utilized either alone or with other information that is, or should reasonably be known to be, available to predictable recipients of such information to reveal the identity of that individual;

11. “Public health authority” means the Oklahoma State Commissioner of Health; or local health department that acts principally to protect or preserve the health of the public; or any person directly authorized to act on behalf of the Oklahoma State Commissioner of Health or local health department;

12. “Public safety authority” means the Commissioner of Public Safety; or any local government agency that acts principally to protect or preserve the public safety; or any person directly authorized to act on behalf of the Commissioner of Public Safety or local agency;

13. “Quarantine” means the physical separation and confinement of an individual or groups of individuals, who are or may have been exposed to a transmissible or possibly transmissible disease and who do not show signs or symptoms of a transmissible disease, from nonquarantined individuals, to prevent or limit the transmission of the disease to nonquarantined individuals;

14. “Specimens” means, but is not limited to, blood, sputum, urine, stool, other bodily fluids, wastes, tissues, and cultures necessary to perform required tests;

15. “Tests” means, but is not limited to, any diagnostic or investigative analyses necessary to prevent the spread of disease or protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public;

16. “Transmissible disease” means an infectious disease that can be transmitted from person to person; and

17. “Trial court” means the district court for the area in which isolation or quarantine is to occur, a court designated by the Public Health Emergency Plan under the Catastrophic Health Emergency Powers Act, or to the district court for the area in which a catastrophic health emergency has been declared.

Added by Laws 2003, c. 473, § 4. Amended by Laws 2007, c. 69, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2007.