2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 44 - Health
CHAPTER 4 - EMERGENCY HEALTH POWERS
Section 44-4-130. Definitions.
As used in the chapter:
(A) "Biological agent" means a microorganism, virus, infectious substance, naturally occurring or bioengineered product, or other biological material that could cause death, disease, or other harm to a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism.
(B) "Bioterrorism" means the intentional use or threatened use of a biological agent to harm or endanger members of the public.
(C) "Chemical agent" means a poisonous chemical agent that has the capacity to cause death, disease, or other harm to a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism.
(D) "Chemical terrorism" means the intentional use or threatened use of a chemical agent to harm or endanger members of the public.
(E) "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.
(F) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
(G) "Contagious disease" is an infectious disease that can be transmitted from person to person, animal to person, or insect to person.
(H) "Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors" have the same meanings as provided in Sections 17-5-5 and 40-19-10, respectively.
(I) "DHEC" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control or any person authorized to act on behalf of the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
(J) "Facility" means any real property, building, structure, or other improvement to real property or any motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, watercraft, or other means of transportation.
(K) "Health care facility" means any nonfederal institution, building, or agency or portion thereof, whether public or private (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, health maintenance organizations, home health agencies, hospices, hospitals, infirmaries, intermediate care facilities, kidney treatment centers, long-term care facilities, medical assistance facilities, mental health centers, outpatient facilities, public health centers, rehabilitation facilities, residential treatment facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and adult daycare centers. The term 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, and patient, guest, and health personnel food service facilities, and offices and office buildings for persons engaged in health care professions or services.
(L) "Health care provider" means any person or entity who provides health care services including, but not limited to, hospitals, medical clinics and offices, special care facilities, medical laboratories, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered and other nurses, paramedics, firefighters who provide emergency medical care, emergency medical or laboratory technicians, and ambulance and emergency medical workers. This includes out-of-state medical laboratories, provided that such laboratories have agreed to the reporting requirements of South Carolina. Results must be reported by the laboratory that performs the test, but an in-state laboratory that sends specimens to an out-of-state laboratory is also responsible for reporting results.
(M) "Infectious disease" is a disease caused by a living organism or virus. An infectious disease may, or may not, be transmissible from person to person, animal to person, or insect to person.
(N) "Isolation" and "quarantine" mean the compulsory physical separation (including the restriction of movement or confinement) of individuals and/or groups believed to have been exposed to or known to have been infected with a contagious disease from individuals who are believed not to have been exposed or infected, in order to prevent or limit the transmission of the disease to others; if the context so requires, "quarantine" means compulsory physical separation, including restriction of movement, of populations or groups of healthy people who have been potentially exposed to a contagious disease, or to efforts to segregate these persons within specified geographic areas. "Isolation" means the separation and confinement of individuals known or suspected (via signs, symptoms, or laboratory criteria) to be infected with a contagious disease to prevent them from transmitting disease to others.
(O) "Protected health information" means any information, whether oral, written, electronic, visual, pictorial, physical, or any other form, that relates to an individual's past, present, or future physical or mental health status, condition, treatment, service, products purchased, or provision of care, 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 reasonably should be known to be, available to predictable recipients of such information) to reveal the identity of that individual.
(P) "Public health emergency" means the occurrence or imminent risk of a qualifying health condition.
(Q) "Public safety authority" means the Department of Public Safety, the State Law Enforcement Division, or designated persons authorized to act on behalf of the Department of Public Safety, the State Law Enforcement Division including, but not limited to, local governmental agencies that act principally to protect or preserve the public safety, or full-time commissioned law enforcement persons.
(R) "Qualifying health condition" means:
(1) a natural disaster; or
(2) an illness or health condition that may be caused by terrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or a novel infectious agent or biological or chemical agent and that poses a substantial risk of a significant number of human fatalities, widespread illness, or serious economic impact to the agricultural sector, including food supply.
(S) "Radioactive material" means a radioactive substance that has the capacity to cause bodily injury or death to a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism.
(T) "Radiological terrorism" means the intentional use or threatened use of a radioactive material to harm or endanger members of the public.
(U) "Specimens" include, but are not limited to, blood, sputum, urine, stool, other bodily fluids, wastes, tissues, and cultures necessary to perform required tests, and environmental samples or other samples needed to diagnose potential chemical, biological, or radiological contamination.
(V) "Tests" include, but are not limited to, any diagnostic or investigative analyses necessary to prevent the spread of disease or protect the public's health, safety, and welfare.
(W) "Trial court" is the circuit court for the county in which the isolation or quarantine is to occur or to the circuit court for the county in which a public health emergency has been declared. If that court is unable to function because of the isolation, quarantine, or public health emergency, the trial court is a circuit court designated by the Chief Justice upon petition and proper showing by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 339, Section 24, eff July 2, 2002; 2008 Act No. 341, Section 1, eff June 11, 2008.
