Unusual Incidents

Section 250 Section 250.990  Unusual Incidents a)         A procedure shall be established to investigate any unusual incidents which occur at any time on a patient care unit. (Refer to Subpart B Section 250.210 (g)). b)         The procedure shall include the making and disposition of incident reports.  Notation of incidents having a direct medical effect on a specific patient shall be entered in the medical record of that patient.  (Refer to Subpart R, Section 250.2140 (c)(5).) c)         Each report shall be analyzed and summarized, and corrective action shall be taken if necessary.  Summarized reports shall be available to the Department of Public Health and shall be confidential in accordance with Section 9 of the Licensing Act. d)         Pursuant to Section 3.2(a) of the Criminal Identification Act, if a patient is not accompanied by a law enforcement officer, as soon as treatment allows, a hospital, physician, or nurse shall notify the local law enforcement agency that serves the hospital when it appears that the patient has any injury sustained as a victim of an alleged sexual assault or sustained an injury as a victim of a criminal offense. 1)         In instances of alleged sexual assault, the hospital shall obtain the patient's consent prior to disclosure of the patient's identity to law enforcement and prior to any interview with law enforcement. 2) A hospital, physician, or nurse shall be forever held harmless from any civil liability for their reasonable compliance with the provisions of this Section . (Section 3.2(a)(2) of the Criminal Identification Act)