ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 4511

 

with committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  AUGUST 24, 2020

 

      The Assembly Community Development and Affairs Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4511.

      As amended, this bill requires a county or municipal law enforcement officer to provide a person with immediate transportation to the nearest hospital if:

·        the person is suffering from an injury requiring immediate medical assistance;

·        an emergency medical transportation vehicle is delayed or unavailable; and

·        there is a hospital with the necessary emergency facilities within a reasonable distance. 

      The bill provides that the Attorney General, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, is to promulgate guidelines to effectuate the provisions of the bill.  The guidelines are required to include, but not be limited to:

·        identifying the types of injuries requiring immediate transport by a county or municipal law enforcement officer when emergency medical transportation is delayed or unavailable;

·        a listing of appropriate health care facilities in each county to which a law enforcement officer may transport an injured person, including accredited trauma centers;

·        procedures for transporting injured persons suspected of committing a crime or offense;

·        safety precautions and best practices for avoiding exposure to blood-borne pathogens and communicable diseases; and

·        decontamination of vehicles in which law enforcement officers have transported an injured person.

      The bill defines “accredited trauma center” to mean a trauma center designated as a Level One or Level Two trauma center under the provisions of P.L.2013, c.233 (C.26:2KK-1 et seq.) and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.  In addition, the bill defines “emergency medical transportation” to mean the prehospital transportation of an ill or injured patient by a dedicated emergency medical service vehicle or helicopter response unit. 

      It is the sponsor’s view that providing law enforcement officers with the power to rapidly transport a critically ill person to the nearest appropriate hospital will shorten the time between injury and hospital care.  The sponsor notes that the ability to quickly provide advanced hospital care is particularly important for persons suffering from traumatic injury.  The transportation of injured persons to the hospital by law enforcement officers, also known as “scoop and run,” has not only saved lives in the communities where it has been implemented, but also improved the relationship between law enforcement officers and the communities that they serve. 

 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments add a findings and declarations section to the bill.