Sec. 10.35.01.17. Notification of Exposure to Contagious or Infectious Disease

Whenever it is required that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner notify a firefighter, emergency medical technician, rescue squad member, law enforcement officer, correctional officer, etc., of exposure to contagious disease or virus, and pursuant to Health-General Article, §18-213, Annotated Code of Maryland, the following procedures shall be followed:

A. A medical examiner shall review information gathered in the course of the postmortem examination, including testing for contagious disease or viruses;

B. If evidence of contagious disease or virus, as defined in Health-General Article, §18-213, Annotated Code of Maryland, is identified in the test carried out in the postmortem examination, this information shall be provided by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to the officially designated agency representative of the appropriate firefighter, emergency medical technician, rescue squad member, law enforcement officer, correctional officer, etc., with a copy to each of these.

C. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall verbally notify the agency-designated representative within 48 hours after confirmation of the diagnosis, and subsequently confirm that notice, in writing, and in a manner that protects the confidentiality of the patient; and

D. The agency representative shall notify the individual believed to have been exposed to the contagious disease or virus.