REPORT TITLE:
Emergency Services


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates funds for the statewide development of protocols and
the special training of paramedics in the treatment of domestic
violence patients.  (HB1844 HD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        1844
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOCOLS AND THE
   SPECIAL TRAINING OF PARAMEDICS IN THE TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC
   VIOLENCE PATIENTS.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Domestic violence is a public health problem
 
 2 that needs priority attention from the medical community.
 
 3 However, medical literature makes it clear that there is much
 
 4 room for improvement in the medical community's response to and
 
 5 protection of battered women.
 
 6      According to researchers from the Medical College of
 
 7 Pennsylvania, "To treat a battered woman's medical and/or
 
 8 surgical problems without recognizing that she has been
 
 9 chronically battered and without offering essential service is
 
10 simply bad medical care."
 
11      The "Hawaii Crime Brief" issued by the attorney general in
 
12 April, 1996, found that nearly thirty per cent of all homicides
 
13 from 1985-1994 in Hawaii were the result of domestic violence.  A
 
14 1993 study conducted by the Hawaii state commission on the status
 
15 of women estimated that nearly fifty thousand women in Hawaii
 
16 between the ages of eighteen and sixty-four have been victims of
 
17 domestic violence.  The department of health's plan for the
 
18 prevention of injuries in Hawaii (June 1995) reported that
 
19 between 1989 and 1994 almost one hundred women were killed by
 

 
Page 2                                                     1844
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 men.  Most of the killers were partners, boyfriends, husbands, or
 
 2 acquaintances.
 
 3      Some research shows that more than fifty-four per cent of
 
 4 women suffering from domestic violence injuries are treated in
 
 5 hospital emergency rooms.  The Council on Scientific Affairs,
 
 6 American Medical Association, has reported that at least one in
 
 7 five women seen in the emergency room present symptoms relating
 
 8 to abuse.
 
 9      Studies have also shown that domestic violence victims
 
10 identified with severe chronic conditions and psychological
 
11 symptoms of abuse may be prone to depression and suicide.  These
 
12 circumstances illustrate the importance of enlightened care from
 
13 the emergency services community.  Emergency services personnel
 
14 must learn to detect victims of domestic violence so intervention
 
15 can begin.
 
16      The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for the
 
17 statewide development of protocols and the special training of
 
18 paramedics in the treatment of domestic violence patients.  
 
19      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
20 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof
 
21 as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 for the statewide
 
22 development of protocols and special training of paramedics in
 
23 the treatment of domestic violence patients.
 

 
Page 3                                                     1844
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 2
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of
 
 2 health for the purposes of this Act.
 
 3      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.