36-661. Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. " Acquired immune deficiency syndrome" has the same meaning as defined by the centers for disease control of the United States public health service.

2. " Capacity to consent" means a person's ability, determined without regard to the person's age, to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a proposed health care service, treatment or procedure and to make an informed decision concerning that service, treatment or procedure.

3. " Child" means an unemancipated person under eighteen years of age.

4. " Communicable disease" means a contagious, epidemic or infectious disease required to be reported to the local board of health or the department pursuant to chapter 1 of this title and this chapter.

5. " Communicable disease related information" means information regarding a communicable disease in the possession of a person who provides health services or who obtains the information pursuant to the release of communicable disease related information.

6. " Contact" means a spouse or sex partner of a protected person, a person who has shared hypodermic needles or syringes with a protected person or a person otherwise exposed to a protected person with a communicable disease in a manner that poses an epidemiologically significant risk of transmission of that disease.

7. " Department" means the department of health services.

8. " Director" means the director of the department of health services.

9. " First responder" means a law enforcement officer, a firefighter or an ambulance attendant as defined in section 36-2201.

10. " Good Samaritan" means a person who renders emergency care or assistance in good faith and without compensation at the scene of any accident, fire or other life-threatening emergency and who believes that a significant exposure risk occurred while the person rendered care or assistance.

11. " Health care decision maker" has the same meaning prescribed in section 12-2801.

12. " Health care provider" means a physician, nurse or other person involved in providing health services.

13. " Health facility" means a health care institution as defined in section 36-401, a blood bank, blood center, milk bank, sperm bank, organ or tissue bank or clinical laboratory or a health care services organization holding a certificate of authority pursuant to section 20-1054.

14. " Health service" means public or private care, treatment, clinical laboratory tests, counseling or educational service for adults or children and acute, chronic, custodial, residential, outpatient, home or other health care or activities related to the detection, reporting, prevention and control of communicable or preventable diseases.

15. " HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus.

16. " HIV infection" means infection with the human immunodeficiency virus or a related virus identified as a probable causative agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

17. " HIV-related illness" means an illness that may result from or be associated with HIV infection.

18. " HIV-related information" means information concerning whether a person has had an HIV-related test or has HIV infection, HIV-related illness or acquired immune deficiency syndrome and includes information that identifies or reasonably permits identification of that person or the person's contacts.

19. " HIV-related test" means a laboratory test or series of tests for the virus, components of the virus or antibodies to the virus thought to indicate the presence of HIV infection.

20. " Occupational significant exposure risk" means a significant exposure risk that occurs in the performance of a health care provider's professional duties or a first responder's official duties.

21. " Protected person" means a person who takes an HIV-related test or who has been diagnosed as having HIV infection, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, HIV-related illness or another communicable disease.

22. " Significant exposure risk" means contact with another person in a manner that, if the other person has a communicable disease, poses an epidemiologically significant risk of transmission of that disease as determined by the department.