Mississippi § 45-11-281 - Notification by hospital and certain licensed facilities; burn injury defined; notice contents; reporting requirement if investigation conducted after notification; report of burn injury-related death; confidentiality.

§ 45-11-281. Notification by hospital and certain licensed facilities; burn injury defined; notice contents; reporting requirement if investigation conducted after notification; report of burn injury-related death; confidentiality.

Any hospital, as defined in Section 41-9-3, or any licensed facility, as defined in Section 41-23-39, that is initially responsible for the treatment of an individual for a burn injury, shall notify the State Fire Marshal or his designee within twenty-four (24) hours by phone or facsimile. For the purposes of this section, the term “burn injury” means a burn injury: Which causes second- or third-degree burns to nine percent (9%) or more of the patient’s body; Which causes injury to the upper respiratory tract or laryngeal edema caused by inhaling super-heated air; or Which causes death. The term “burn injury” shall not include sunburns. Notice under this section shall include: The name and address of the patient; A description of the burn injury; The reported cause of the burn injury; The patient’s disposition; and Any other fact concerning the burn injury which might assist in detecting arson. If an investigation is conducted after notification is given under this section, the investigating agency shall report its findings on an incident reporting system report and send it to the State Fire Marshal for retention. The Department of Health shall report to the State Fire Marshal any burn injury-related death. Any information obtained by or disclosed to the State Fire Marshal pursuant to this section shall be held by the State Fire Marshal as confidential and shall not be disclosed without written consent from the burn victim, or in the case of death, or in the case of a minor, without the written consent of his or her parent or legal representative or by court order.Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the State Fire Marshal from publishing aggregate statistical data from such information without releasing any personally identifiable data. The State Fire Marshal is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this section.