Report No. 201

(B) 'Screening' a person to determine if he is in an'emergency medical condition.

Definition of 'emergency medical condition'

The next requirement is to make it mandatory for "screening" the person to find out whether the person requires emergency medical treatment in the hospitals, i.e. treatment as an in-patient or whether he could be treated in the out patient department of the hospital. Even a private medical practitioner can conduct such a screening. The results of the screening must be documented by the hospital or doctor in their registers. Section 4 of the Bill provides for mandatory screening as follows:

"4. Screening of the person 4. Whenever such a person referred to in section 3, is brought or comes to the hospital or medical practitioner, it shall be their duty to provide an appropriate medical screening examination within the capability of the hospital or the medical practitioner, as the case may be, for the purpose of determining whether or not an emergency medical condition exists."

Provided that if such hospital or medical practitioner, as the case may be, is not having capability for conducting appropriate medical screening examination, it shall be their duty to arrange for the transfer of the person to a hospital or to another medical practitioner which or who, in their opinion, has the necessary capabilities for such medical screening examination."

Once the mandatory screening is done, it may reveal that the person is or is not in an emergency medical condition.

By emergency medical condition, (which we propose to define) we mean a medical condition manifesting acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) where the absence of emergency medical treatment could reasonably be expected to result in

(i) death of the person,

(ii) serious jeopardy in the health of the person (or in the case of a pregnant woman, in her health and the health of the unborn child), or

(iii) serious impairment of bodily functions,

(iv) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part, We propose to add an Explanation as to what is emergency medical condition of a pregnant woman such as where there is no adequate time to effect a safe transfer of the person to another hospital before delivery, or the transfer may pose a threat to the health or safety of the woman or her unborn child."