AN ACT Relating to
investigating sudden unexplained deaths of children; and amending RCW
43.103.100 and 68.50.104.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 43.103.100 and 1991
c 176 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The council
shall research and develop an appropriate training component on the subject of
sudden, unexplained child death, including but not limited to sudden infant
death syndrome. The training component shall include, at a minimum:
(((1))) (a)
Medical information on sudden, unexplained child death for first responders,
including awareness and sensitivity in dealing with families and child care
providers, and the importance of forensically competent death scene investigation;
(((2))) (b)
Information on community resources and support groups available to assist
families who have lost a child to sudden, unexplained death, including sudden
infant death syndrome; and
(((3) Development
and adoption of an up-to-date protocol of investigation in cases of sudden,
unexplained child death, including the importance of a consistent policy of
thorough death scene investigation, and an autopsy in unresolved cases as
appropriate;
(4))) (c) The value of timely communication
between the county coroner or medical examiner and the public health
department, when a sudden, unexplained child death occurs, in order to achieve
a better understanding of such deaths, and connecting families to various
community and public health support systems to enhance recovery from grief.
(2) The council
shall work with volunteer groups with expertise in the area of sudden,
unexplained child death, including but not limited to the SIDS ((Northwest
Regional Center at Children's Hospital, the Washington chapter of the national
SIDS)) foundation((,)) of Washington and the Washington
association of county officials.
((Upon development
of an appropriate curriculum, agreed upon by the council, the training module
shall be offered to first responders, coroners, medical examiners, prosecuting
attorneys serving as coroners, and investigators, both voluntarily through
their various associations and as a course offering at the criminal justice
training center.))
(3) Basic training
for death investigators offered by the Washington association of coroners and
medical examiners and the criminal justice training commission shall include a
module which specifically addresses the investigations of the sudden
unexplained deaths of children under the age of three. The training module
shall include a scene investigation protocol endorsed or developed by the
council. A similar training curriculum shall be required for city and county
law enforcement officers and emergency medical personnel certified by the
department of health as part of their basic training through the criminal
justice training commission or the department of health emergency medical
training certification program.
(4) Each county
shall use a protocol that has been endorsed or developed by the council for
scene investigations of the sudden unexplained deaths of children under the age
of three. The council may utilize guidelines from the center for disease
control and other appropriate resources.
(5) The council
shall develop a protocol for autopsies of children under the age of three whose
deaths are sudden and unexplained. This protocol shall be used by pathologists
who are not certified by the American board of pathology in forensic pathology,
and who are providing autopsy services to coroners and medical examiners.
Sec. 2. RCW 68.50.104 and 1983
1st ex.s. c 16 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The cost of
autopsy shall be borne by the county in which the autopsy is performed, except
when requested by the department of labor and industries, in which case, the
department shall bear the cost of such autopsy((; and except when performed
on a body of an infant under the age of three years by the University of
Washington medical school, in which case the medical school shall bear the cost
of such autopsy)).
(2) Except as
provided in (c) of this subsection, when the county bears the cost of an
autopsy, it shall be reimbursed from the death investigations(('))
account, established by RCW 43.79.445, as follows:
(((1))) (a)
Up to forty percent of the cost of contracting for the services of a
pathologist to perform an autopsy; ((and
(2))) (b) Up to twenty-five percent of the
salary of pathologists who are primarily engaged in performing autopsies and
are (((a))) (i) county coroners or county medical examiners, or
(((b))) (ii) employees of a county coroner or county medical
examiner; and
(c) When the county
bears the cost of an autopsy of a child under the age of three whose death was
sudden and unexplained, the county shall be reimbursed for the expenses of the
autopsy when the death scene investigation and the autopsy have been conducted
under RCW 43.103.100 (4) and (5), and the autopsy has been done at a facility
designed for the performance of autopsies.
Payments
from the account shall be made pursuant to biennial appropriation: PROVIDED,
That no county may reduce funds appropriated for this purpose below 1983
budgeted levels.
