Reporting Possible COVID-19 Related Incidents in the Emergency Medical Services Incident Report System (EMSIRS)
The National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) has issued guidance to states on collecting information for EMS runs that may be COVID-19 related. They have recommended three ICD-10 codes that can be used as the secondary impression when reporting an incident to the state.
Based on the NEMSIS recommendation, the State of Ohio Division of EMS suggests that when reporting a COVID-19 related incident to EMSIRS, or an incident where the patient is COVID-19 compromised, one of the following ICD-10 codes be used for the Provider's Secondary Impression (eSituation.12):
Z20.828 - Contact with and (suspected) exposure to other viral communicable diseases. Use when the patient is known or suspected to have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Z20.9 - Contact with and (suspected) exposure to unspecified communicable disease. Use when the patient is suspected to have been exposed to an infectious disease, but the EMS clinician does not know if it was COVID-19. The patient has symptoms but exposure is unknown.
B97.29 - Other coronavirus as the cause of diseases classified elsewhere. Use for positive COVID-19 diagnosis. (Do NOT use U07.1 (recommended by the CDC) as it will cause NEMSIS compliant XML to fail.)
The Division of EMS is dedicated to statewide collection of accurate information for the improvement of the health and safety of all Ohioans.
