Terms Used In Maryland Code, PUBLIC SAFETY 14-3A-01

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.

(b) “Catastrophic health emergency” means a situation in which extensive loss of life or serious disability is threatened imminently because of exposure to a deadly agent.

(c) “Deadly agent” means:

(1) anthrax, ebola, plague, smallpox, tularemia, or other bacterial, fungal, rickettsial, or viral agent, biological toxin, or other biological agent capable of causing extensive loss of life or serious disability;

(2) mustard gas, nerve gas, or other chemical agent capable of causing extensive loss of life or serious disability; or

(3) radiation at levels capable of causing extensive loss of life or serious disability.

(d) “Exposure to a deadly agent” means a threat to human health caused by the release, distribution, or transmission of a deadly agent in:

(1) this State; or

(2) another jurisdiction because of movement into the State of the deadly agent or of individuals exposed to the deadly agent.

(e) “Health care provider” means:

(1) a health care facility as defined in § 19-114(d)(1) of the Health – General Article;

(2) a health care practitioner as defined in § 19-114(e) of the Health – General Article; and

(3) an individual licensed or certified as an emergency medical services provider under § 13-516 of the Education Article.

(f) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Health.