190.243. 1. Severely injured patients shall be transported to a trauma center. A physician or registered nurse authorized by a physician who has established verbal communication with ambulance personnel shall instruct the ambulance personnel to transport a severely injured patient to the closest hospital or designated trauma center, as determined according to estimated transport time whether by ground ambulance or air ambulance, in accordance with transport protocol approved by the medical director and the department of health and senior services, even when the hospital is located outside of the ambulance service's primary service area. When initial transport from the scene of injury to a trauma center would be prolonged, the severely injured patient may be transported to the nearest appropriate facility for stabilization prior to transport to a trauma center.
2. Transport of the severely injured patient shall be governed by principles of timely and medically appropriate care; consideration of reimbursement mechanisms shall not supersede those principles.
3. Patients who are not severely injured shall be transported to and cared for at the hospital of their choice so long as such ambulance service is not in violation of local protocols.
(L. 1987 S.B. 31 & 29 § 5, A.L. 1998 S.B. 743)
Missouri General Assembly