H. B. 3055
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Staggers, Hutchins,
Sobonya, Kessler, Longstreth and Guthrie)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated
§30-4A-5a
, relating
to requiring dentists that administer general anesthesia to
pediatric patients to comply with certain requirements
regarding personnel, operating facilities, equipment,
monitoring procedures, recovery and discharge.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated
§30-4A-5a,
to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 4A. ADMINISTRATION OF GENERAL ANESTHESIA AND PARENTERAL
CONSCIOUS SEDATION BY DENTISTS.
§30-4A-5a. General anesthesia in pediatric patients.
(a) Personnel. -- The provision of general anesthesia requires
the following individuals: (1) A physician or dentist who has completed an advanced training program in anesthesia or oral and
maxillofacial surgery and related subjects beyond the undergraduate
medical or dental curriculum, who is responsible for anesthesia and
monitoring of the patient; (2) a treating dentist, responsible for
the provision of dental services; and (3) other personnel to assist
the operator as necessary. Of these individuals, the anesthetist
shall be currently certified in the American Heart Association's
Pediatric Advanced Life Support Course or the equivalent. All
other personnel in attendance shall be currently certified in basic
life support. When a certified registered nurse anesthetist is
permitted to function under the supervision of a dentist, the
dentist is required to have completed training in pediatric
advanced life support, as specified above.
(b) Operating facility and equipment. --
(1) Facilities. -- The practitioner who utilizes any type of
sedative or local anesthetic in a pediatric patient shall possess
appropriate training and skills and have available the proper
facilities, personnel and equipment to manage any reasonable
foreseeable emergency situation that might be experienced. All
newly installed facilities for delivering nitrous oxide and oxygen
must be checked for proper gas delivery and fail-safe function
prior to use.
(2) Equipment. -- A positive pressure oxygen delivery system
that is capable of administering greater than ninety percent oxygen at a 10 L/min flow for at least sixty minutes (650 liter, "E"
cylinder) must be available. When a self-inflating bag value mask
device is used for delivering positive pressure oxygen, a 15 L/min
flow is recommended. All equipment must be able to accommodate
children of all ages and sizes. A functional suction apparatus
with appropriate suction catheters must be immediately available.
A sphygmomanometer with cuffs of appropriate size for pediatric
patients shall be immediately available.
Inhalation sedation equipment must have the capacity for
delivering one hundred percent and never less than twenty-five
percent oxygen concentration at a flow rate appropriate to the
child's size and must have a fail-safe system that is checked and
calibrated annually. If nitrous oxide and oxygen delivery
equipment capable of delivering more than seventy-five percent
nitrous oxide and less than twenty-five percent oxygen is used, an
in-line oxygen analyzer must be used. The equipment must have an
appropriate scavenging system.
Equipment that is appropriate for the technique used and
capable of monitoring the physiologic state of the patient before,
during and after the procedure must be present. The following
equipment shall be available for all procedures administering
general anesthesia to pediatric patients: Pulse oximeter,
precordial/pretracheal stethoscope, blood pressure monitor,
electrocardiograph (ECG), a temperature monitor, sphygmomanometer and defibrillator.
An emergency cart or kit must be readily accessible and should
include the necessary drugs and age-and-size-appropriate equipment
to resusciate a nonbreathing and unconscious pediatric patient and
provide continuous support while the patient is being transported
to a medical facility. There should be documentation that all
emergency equipment and drugs are checked and maintained on a
regularly scheduled basis.
(c) Monitoring procedures. -- The anesthetized patient shall
be continuously monitored by the anesthesia provider. There shall
be continual monitoring of oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry,
heart and respiratory rates, and blood pressure, all of which shall
be recorded minimally every five minutes. The anesthesia provider
should be visualizing the patient as well as the monitors and
observing trends in the data obtained from the monitors. At no
time should the patient be unobserved by trained personnel until
discharge criteria have been met.
(d) Recovery. -- After treatment has been completed, the
patient must be observed continuously and monitored appropriately
in a suitably equipped recovery facility until the patient becomes
stable. This facility must have a functioning suction apparatus
and suction catheters of appropriate size as well as the capacity
to deliver greater than ninety percent oxygen and provide positive
pressure ventilation for pediatric patients. An individual experienced in recovery care must be in attendance at all times to
assess and record vital signs, observe the patient and ensure
airway patency. The patient must remain in the recovery facility
until cardiovascular and respiratory parameters and functions are
stable and appropriate discharge criteria have been met unless the
patient is being transferred to a higher level of care.
(e) Recommended discharge criteria. -- The following are
recommended discharge criteria: (1) Cardiovascular function
satisfactory and stable; (2) airway patency uncompromised and
satisfactory; (3) patient easily arousable and protective reflexes
intact; (4) state of hydration adequate; (5) patient can talk, if
applicable; (6) patient can sit unaided, if applicable; (7) patient
can ambulate, if applicable, with minimal assistance; (8) for the
child who is very young or disabled and incapable of the usually
expected responses, the presedation level of responsiveness or the
level as close as possible for that child should be achieved; and
(9) responsible individual is available.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require pediatric
dentists that administer general anesthesia to pediatric patients
to comply with certain requirements for training, personnel,
operating facilities, equipment, monitoring procedures, recovery
and discharge.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.