March 8, 2011

Ms. Jessica C. Eales

Assistant City Attorney

City of Houston

P.O. Box 368

Houston, Texas 77001-0368

OR2011-03223

Dear Ms. Eales:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 415230 (GC No. 18274).

The Houston Fire Department (the "department") received a request for a specified report. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential, including chapter 773 of the Health and Safety Code, which pertains to Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") records. Access to EMS records is governed by the provisions of section 773.091 of the Health and Safety Code. See Open Records Decision No. 598 (1991). Section 773.091 provides in part the following:

(b) Records of the identity, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by emergency medical services personnel or by a physician providing medical supervision that are created by the emergency medical services personnel or physician or maintained by an emergency medical services provider are confidential and privileged and may not be disclosed except as provided by this chapter.

. . .

(g) The privilege of confidentiality under this section does not extend to information regarding the presence, nature of injury or illness, age, sex, occupation, and city of residence of a patient who is receiving emergency medical services.

Health & Safety Code § 773.091(b), (g). You state the submitted information "consists of records made and maintained by [EMS] personnel[.]" Upon review, we agree the submitted documents constitute confidential EMS records. We note records that are confidential under section 773.091 may be disclosed to "any person who bears a written consent of the patient or other persons authorized to act on the patient's behalf for the release of confidential information." Id. §§ 773.092(e)(4), .093. Section 773.093 provides a consent for release of EMS records must specify: (1) the information or records to be covered by the release; (2) the reasons or purpose for the release; and (3) the person to whom the information is to be released. Thus, except for the information subject to section 773.091(g), which is not confidential, the department may only release the submitted EMS records upon receipt of proper consent under section 773.093(a). See id. §§ 773.092, .093. You inform us the department has not received proper consent for release of the records at issue. Thus, the submitted EMS records must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 773.091 of the Health and Safety Code as information made confidential by law, with the exception of the information subject to section 773.091(g), which must be released to the requestor.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Ana Carolina Vieira

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ACV/dls

Ref: ID# 415230

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

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