Fire Laws

CHAPTER 28.37

VACCINATION OF FIREFIGHTERS TO PREVENT HEPATITIS B

Section.

23-28.37-1. Findings.

23-28.37-2. Definitions.

23-28.37-3. Vaccination.

23-28.37-4. Administration of program.

23-28.37-1. Findings.

The general assembly finds and declares that, by reason of their employment, firefighters and emergency medical technicians are required to work in the midst of and are subject to exposure to infectious diseases, especially hepatitis B; that the U.S. center for disease control has estimated that two hundred thousand (200,000) persons in the U.S. are infected each year with hepatitis B, and of that number twenty-five percent (25%) become ill, ten thousand (10,000) require hospitalization, and five thousand (5,000) die; that it is estimated that there are from five hundred thousand (500,000) to one million (1,000,000) infectious hepatitis B carriers in the U.S. of which up to eighty percent (80%) of chronic carriers are unaware that they have hepatitis B and are capable of spreading it; that there is no known cure for hepatitis B, and for firefighters, there is no way of knowing who among those being helped at an accident or a fire is a hepatitis B carrier. The general assembly further finds and declares that all the aforementioned conditions exist and arise out of or in the course of employment.

23-28.37-2. Definitions.

The following terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings herein described:

(1) 'Emergency medical technician' means a person licensed pursuant to chapter 4.1 of this title to provide emergency medical services.

(2) 'Fire department' means service groups (paid or volunteer) that are organized and trained for the prevention and control of loss of life and property from fire or other emergency.

(3) 'Firefighter' means an individual who is assigned to firefighting activity and is required to respond to alarms and perform emergency action at the location of a fire, hazardous materials, or other emergency incident.

23-28.37-3. Vaccination.

Any active firefighter or emergency medical technician, who may be exposed to hepatitis B during a period while the firefighter or emergency medical technician is in the service of the fire department, shall be vaccinated at the request of the firefighter or emergency medical technician for protection against hepatitis B.

23-28.37-4. Administration of program.

The department of health shall conduct a series of clinics in the various geographic areas of the state for the purpose of administering the vaccination against hepatitis B. The department of health shall coordinate the scheduling and location of the vaccination clinics with the fire departments within the geographic areas.