Emergency Medical Assistance.
This chapter covers what a Texas peace officer must know about emergency Medical Assistance, along with the statute limits that shape each element, at the level of detail the TCOLE tests.
Chapter 40 study guide.
You will often reach an injured person before an ambulance does. This chapter covers what the law requires of you in that gap, how to protect yourself from disease, and the first aid the TCOLE outline expects you to give until medical personnel take over.
Study it in the order you would work a casualty. Learn the three phases of care, then the MARCH or XABCDE assessment, then the treatment that goes with each letter. For every condition, know the common signs, the one or two things you do, and the things you must not do. This guide is for the written exam. The hands-on skills and the CPR/AED course are taught and tested in person.
Jump to an objective14
The legal side of rendering aid
Texas law puts a duty on you. Under Article 2B.0301 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a peace officer who encounters an injured person while discharging official duties shall immediately and as necessary do two things: request emergency medical services, and, while waiting for them to arrive, provide first aid or treatment to the extent of the officer’s skill and training.
The article has two exceptions. You are not required to make the request or give the treatment if doing so would expose you or another person to a risk of bodily injury, or if you are injured and physically unable to do it.
Drivers have a duty too. Under Transportation Code 550.023, the operator of a vehicle involved in a collision that injures or kills a person, or damages an attended vehicle, must give their information and must provide any injured person reasonable assistance. That includes transporting the person, or arranging transport, to a physician or hospital when treatment is plainly needed or the injured person asks for it.
The outline also points to the Good Samaritan Law in the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. As the outline describes it, persons who are not licensed or certified and who in good faith administer emergency care as emergency medical service personnel are not liable in civil damages. The outline notes that this protection does not apply to persons licensed or certified as an ECA, EMT, AEMT or Paramedic by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
- CCP Art. 2B.0301 · Duty to Request and Render AidAn officer who encounters an injured person on duty shall request EMS and, while waiting, provide first aid or treatment to the extent of the officer’s skill and training. Not required if it would expose the officer or another to a risk of bodily injury, or if the officer is injured and physically unable.
- Transportation Code Sec. 550.023 · Duty to Give Information and Render AidAn operator involved in a collision causing injury, death or damage to an attended vehicle must give identifying and insurance information and provide any injured person reasonable assistance, including transport for medical treatment.
- Civil Practice and Remedies Code Sec. 74.152 · Good Samaritan LawPer the TCOLE outline: persons not licensed or certified who in good faith administer emergency care as emergency medical service personnel are not liable in civil damages. The outline notes the protection does not apply to persons licensed or certified as ECA, EMT, AEMT or Paramedic.
On the exam The limit on your duty is the phrase “to the extent of the officer’s skill and training”.
An officer must provide first aid or treatment to the extent of the officer’s skill and .
Besides giving first aid, Article 2B.0301 requires the officer to request for the injured person.
Under Transportation Code 550.023, a driver in a collision must provide any injured person .
Treating people of different cultures
Be aware that a person’s religious, lifestyle or ethnic beliefs may affect the medical care they want or will accept. Be sensitive to those differences. Whatever the differences are, you must provide equity in treatment.
Whatever a person’s beliefs or background, the officer must provide in treatment.
Religious, lifestyle, or beliefs may affect medical care.
Communicable diseases and universal precautions
Diseases spread in different ways, and the outline sorts the common ones by route. Tuberculosis is airborne. COVID, influenza and meningitis spread by droplet. Scabies, herpes and chickenpox or shingles spread by contact. HIV and Hepatitis B spread through blood and body fluid.
Universal precautions start with one idea: treat all persons as if infected. The rest follows from it. Avoid exposure where you can. Wear gloves, goggles and a mask, and know the difference between a surgical mask and an N95. Wash your hands and skin, and change your clothes.
If you believe you have been exposed, contact your agency’s Infection Control Officer or follow your agency’s exposure policy. Policy often calls for notifying the local hospital emergency department or the local public health department. Possible exposures are triaged, and you will be given specific advice for your situation.
- Airborne
- Tuberculosis (TB).
- Droplet
- Coronavirus (COVID), influenza (flu) and meningitis.
- Contact
- Scabies, herpes (HSV), and varicella, chickenpox or shingles (VZV).
- Blood and body fluid
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV).
On the exam Be ready to match a disease to its route: TB is the airborne one, HIV and HBV are the blood and body fluid ones.
Under universal precautions, treat all persons as if .
Tuberculosis is spread by the route.
An officer who believes they were exposed should contact the agency’s or follow the agency’s exposure policy.
Questions on what you just read.
- Question 1 · LO 40.1
An on-duty officer finds a man lying beside a road with a deep cut on his leg. The scene is safe and the officer is unhurt. Under CCP Art. 2B.0301 the officer must:
- Question 2 · LO 40.1
An officer arrives at a crash where a victim is trapped in a car that is sitting in a pool of burning fuel. Going to the car would expose the officer to a risk of bodily injury. Under Art. 2B.0301, is the officer required to provide treatment at the car?
- Question 3 · LO 40.3
An officer is about to help a bleeding stranger who says he is perfectly healthy. Under universal precautions, the officer should:
The rest of Chapter 40.
- LO 40.4The three phases of care3 key terms · 3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.5Patient assessment: MARCH and XABCDE2 key terms · 3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.6Bleeding control2 key terms · 4 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.7Airway management3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.8Breathing management3 key terms · 3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.9Circulation: heart attack, shock and CPR2 key terms · 3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.10Heat and cold emergencies3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.11Burns3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.12Diabetic emergencies, seizures and strokes2 key terms · 4 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.13Broken bones and severe sprains2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 40.14Childbirth1 key term · 3 fill-in-the-blank
A subscription opens the other 11 objectives in this chapter, with 34 more fill-in-the-blank items and 7 more practice questions, along with the study guide for every other BPOC chapter.
Unlock the full guideLast checked against the Texas statutes in September 2026. This guide is a study aid for the TCOLE licensing exam. It is not legal advice, and your academy’s instruction and your department’s policy come first.
The law that drives the questions.
What recruits ask about this chapter.
What should a Texas peace officer understand about legal aspects of providing emergency medical assistance?
Discuss the legal aspects of providing emergency medical assistance. Includes: duty to Request and Render Aid - CCP 2B.0301; request Emergency Medical Services (EMS); provide first aid or treatment… to the extent of the officer’s skill and training; duty to Give Information and Render Aid - TC 550.023;
How does a Texas peace officer identify factors associated with treatment of different cultures?
Identify factors associated with treatment of different cultures. Includes: be aware of possible religious, lifestyle, or ethnic beliefs affecting medical care; be sensitive to people’s differences – You must provide equity in treatment.
How does a Texas peace officer identify universal precautions for preventing transmission of communicable diseases?
Identify universal precautions for preventing transmission of communicable diseases. Includes: tuberculosis (TB) = Airborne; coronavirus (COVID) = Droplet; influenza (Flu) = Droplet; meningitis = Droplet; scabies = Contact; herpes (HSV) = Contact; varicella / Chickenpox / Shingles (VZV) = Contact; human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) = Blood / Body Fluid.
How does a Texas peace officer identify three general phases of law enforcement emergency medical assistance?
Identify the three general phases of law enforcement emergency medical assistance. Includes: direct Threat Care / Hot Zone / Care Under Fire; care provided in any area with an ongoing direct and immediate threat of additional injury (shooting, stabbing, flame/fire, live electrical lines, vehicles on highway, etc.);
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