Section 25 in West Bengal Clinical Establishment (Registration, Regulation and Transparency), Rules, 2017
25. Emergency Care.
(1)Any clinical establishment, having OPD or IPD service facilities, shall have the provision of administering medically necessary emergency medical treatment in order to stabilize the emergency medical condition of any person who comes in or is brought to such clinical establishment. The clinical establishment shall report to the Police Station within the jurisdiction of which it is located after providing immediate medical treatment. The clinical establishment shall have the right to recover the cost from the service recipients or his representatives in due course of time.Explanation 1. - "Emergency medical condition" means a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity of such a nature that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in: (i) death of the person or; (ii) serious jeopardy in the health of the person (or in case of pregnant woman, in her health or health of the unborn child); (iii) serious impairment to bodily functions; or (iv) serious dysfunction of any organ or part of a body.Explanation 2. - 'emergency medical treatment means' the action that is required to be taken, after screening a person who is in an emergency medical condition, for achieving the stabilization of the person and rendering such further treatment as may be necessary for the purpose of preventing aggravation of the medical condition of the person or her death and such action shall include administration of necessary first aid to administration of highest level of critical care possible under the circumstances.(2)The clinical establishment with 30 (thirty) or more beds or any other clinical establishment that declares, or professes, in writing that it offers emergency services for 24 hours and shall provide separate emergency department or facility with requisite manpower, infrastructure, equipment and medical supplies to render emergency medical service round the clock.Explanation. - 'emergency medical service' means the organization responding to a perceived individual need for immediate medical care in order to prevent loss of life or aggravation of physiological or psychological illness or injury(3)Failure to have the requisite equipment in working order and non-availability of competent staff within reasonable time while providing the emergency medical treatment by such clinical establishment as mentioned in sub-rule (2), shall be treated as major deficiency under section 29 of the Act.(4)The clinical establishments shall provide emergency medical treatment as mentioned in sub-rule (1) to the person in need in all cases, whether medico-legal or not, immediately without any delay or waiting for arrival of the police or completing legal formalities or waiting for the disclosure of identity of such person.(5)The clinical establishments shall provide emergency medical treatment as mentioned in sub-rule (1) to any person including any indigent person under any circumstances, including inability to pay the user charges. This may be provided under clause (s) of sub-section (3) of section 7.(6)After administering the first-aid and other measures mentioned in sub-rule (4), the Primary Consultant or the Resident Medical Officer (RMO) or any Registered Medical Practitioner may refer the patient to effect an appropriate transfer under rule 16 to another appropriate Healthcare establishment or Registered Medical Practitioner for further medical treatment if in its or her opinion further treatment is medically necessary(7)The transferring clinical establishment shall inform, by telephone or otherwise, the Healthcare Establishment to which the person is being transferred and referred that a patient in an emergent medical condition is being transferred and furnish the details of the person's condition.
