The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is in the beginning stages of rulemaking to explore creating a specific training route for law enforcement personnel to qualify for medical assistant phlebotomist credentials. This rulemaking stems, in part, from a vetoed portion of House Bill 1276 (enacted in 2015), which would have created a new certificate to allow law enforcement personnel to conduct forensic blood draws on DUI suspects. WSHA supports a process to allow law enforcement to conduct forensic blood draws because it reduces pressure on hospital emergency department staff to conduct blood draws on potentially nonconsenting and combative patients. However, we are actively engaging with this rulemaking due to liability and due process concerns regarding the location of forensic blood draws by law enforcement.
The first meeting on this rulemaking is Friday, March 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00pm in Tumwater. Information on this rulemaking and meeting locations can be found here. (Zosia Stanley)
