Procedure for isolation or quarantine.
1. An application to a health authority for an order of emergency isolation or quarantine of a person or a group of persons alleged to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease may only be made by another health authority, a physician, a licensed physician assistant, a registered nurse or a medical facility by submitting the certificate required by NRS 441A.570. Within its jurisdiction, upon application or on its own, subject to the provisions of NRS 441A.500 to 441A.720, inclusive, a health authority may:
(a) Pursuant to its own order and without a warrant:
(1) Take a person or group of persons alleged to and reasonably believed by the health authority to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease into custody in any safe location under emergency isolation or quarantine for testing, examination, observation and the provision of or arrangement for the provision of consensual medical treatment; and
(2) Transport the person or group of persons alleged to and reasonably believed by the health authority to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease to a public or private medical facility, a residence or other safe location for that purpose, or arrange for the person or group of persons to be transported for that purpose by:
(I) A local law enforcement agency;
(II) A system for the nonemergency medical transportation of persons whose operation is authorized by the Transportation Services Authority; or
(III) If medically necessary, an ambulance service that holds a permit issued pursuant to the provisions of chapter 450B of NRS,
Êonly if the health authority acting in good faith has, based upon personal observation, its own epidemiological investigation or an epidemiological investigation by another health authority, a physician, a licensed physician assistant or a registered nurse as stated in a certificate submitted pursuant to NRS 441A.570, if such a certificate was submitted, of the person or group of persons alleged to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease, a reasonable factual and medical basis to believe that the person or group of persons has been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease, and that because of the risks of that disease, the person or group of persons is likely to be an immediate threat to the health of members of the public who have not been infected with or exposed to the communicable disease.
(b) Petition a district court for an emergency order requiring:
(1) Any health authority or peace officer to take a person or group of persons alleged to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease into custody to allow the health authority to investigate, file and prosecute a petition for the involuntary court-ordered isolation or quarantine of the person or group of persons alleged to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease in the manner set forth in NRS 441A.500 to 441A.720, inclusive; and
(2) Any agency, system or service described in subparagraph (2) of paragraph (a) to transport, in accordance with such court order, the person or group of persons alleged to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease to a public or private medical facility, a residence or other safe location for that purpose.
2. The district court may issue an emergency order for isolation or quarantine pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1:
(a) Only for the time deemed necessary by the court to allow a health authority to investigate, file and prosecute each petition for involuntary court-ordered isolation or quarantine pursuant to NRS 441A.500 to 441A.720, inclusive; and
(b) Only if it is satisfied that there is probable cause to believe that the person or group of persons alleged to have been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease has been infected with or exposed to a communicable disease, and that because of the risks of that disease, the person or group of persons is likely to be an immediate threat to the health of the public.
Last modified: February 26, 2006