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.
