Does EMTALA apply during a disaster?
A statement from Medicare says that disaster plans for transferring triaged patients may supercede the usual EMTALA requirements, but this is true only in certain scenarios. During a disaster, it's unacceptable to transfer a patient to a more appropriate facility if doing so amounts to refusal of lifesaving care. Don't assume that patients will be diverted successfully to appropriate facilities after a large-scale disaster. The required level of documentation under EMTALA may not be possible during a disaster, but some type of documentation is necessary.
D023482:Bioterrorism; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D004190:Disasters; D004282:Documentation; D006801:Humans; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010808:Physical Examination; D014481:United States