Statewide Trauma System Criteria

Subdivision 1. Criteria established. The commissioner shall adopt criteria to ensure that severely injured people are promptly transported and treated at trauma hospitals appropriate to the severity of injury. Minimum criteria shall address emergency medical service trauma triage and transportation guidelines as approved under section 144E.101, subdivision 14, designation of hospitals as trauma hospitals, interhospital transfers, a trauma registry, and a trauma system governance structure. Subd. 2. Basis; verification. The commissioner shall base the establishment, implementation, and modifications to the criteria under subdivision 1 on the department-published Minnesota comprehensive statewide trauma system plan. The commissioner shall seek the advice of the Trauma Advisory Council in implementing and updating the criteria, using accepted and prevailing trauma transport, treatment, and referral standards of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Office of Emergency Medical Services, the national Trauma Center Association of America, and other widely recognized trauma experts. The commissioner shall adapt and modify the standards as appropriate to accommodate Minnesota's unique geography and the state's hospital and health professional distribution and shall verify that the criteria are met by each hospital voluntarily participating in the statewide trauma system. Subd. 3. Rule exemption. In developing and adopting the criteria under this section, the commissioner of health is exempt from chapter 14, including section 14.386.