BILL REQ. #:  H-0260.1 

Read first time 01/16/09.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing a process for providing notice to a contact persons in the event a person is injured and requires emergency care; and adding a new section to chapter 43.24 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 43.24 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall publish notice at its offices and on its web site that the department provides and maintains an electronic registry where a person may enter the name of a contact person to be contacted in the event the person is in need of or receives emergency care as the result of an accident, criminal act, or other cause.
     (2) A person who volunteers to enter on the department's electronic registry the name of a contact person to be contacted in the event the person is in need of or receives emergency care shall enter the first and last name of the contact person to be contacted, the contact person's phone number, including area code, and the relationship of the contact person to the person. The person shall also enter on the electronic registry personal information about himself or herself that is the same as information required from an applicant for a driver's license or identicard. The person may enter subsequent changes to the electronic registry in order to update or correct the person's emergency contact information or personal information.
     (3) The electronic registry must be readily available for electronic access by law enforcement officers and health care providers.
     (4) The first law enforcement officer or health care provider who determines that an injured person is in need of emergency care or who provides emergency care to a person injured as the result of an accident, criminal act, or other cause shall make a good faith effort within a reasonable time to access the electronic registry and contact the person designated as the contact person by the injured person at the phone number designated for the contact person on the electronic registry.
     (5) A law enforcement officer or health care provider who makes contact with a contact person at the phone number designated for the contact person on the electronic registry shall confirm the identity of the person as the contact person and shall provide that contact person with only the name of the injured person, the general location of the injured person, and, if known, where the injured person is to be transferred. The law enforcement officer or health care provider shall also provide the contact person with the law enforcement officer's or health care provider's name and agency or organization by which he or she is employed.
     (6) Any person, including the department and its employees, and any law enforcement officer or health care provider complying with this section who contacts a person designated as a contact person on the electronic registry at the phone number designated for the contact person on the electronic registry is not liable for civil damages resulting from any act or omission in providing or attempting to provide notice to a contact person in the event the person is injured and requires emergency care, other than acts or omissions constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
     (7) For the purposes of this section:
     (a) "Emergency care" means first aid, care, treatment, or assistance rendered to an injured person in need of immediate medical attention and includes providing or arranging for further medical care or treatment for the injured person.
     (b) "Health care provider" means a health professional, hospital, or other institution, organization, or person that furnishes health care services and is licensed to furnish these health care services, including medical, surgical, dental, hospital, ambulance, and other health care services.
     (c) "Law enforcement officer" means any general authority Washington peace officer, limited authority Washington peace officer, or specially commissioned Washington peace officer, as those terms are defined in RCW 10.93.020.