Bill Text: HI SCR129 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health To Convene A Task Force To Examine How A Statewide Use Of Domestic Violence Assessments And Response Protocol By Emergency Medical Services Personnel Can Help To Strengthen The State's Overall Response To Domestic Violence.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-04-13 - Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Fukumoto, C. Lee, McKelvey, Mizuno, Woodson excused (5). [SCR129 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-SCR129-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
129 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO EXAMINE HOW A STATEWIDE USE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSESSMENTS AND RESPONSE PROTOCOL BY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN THE STATE'S OVERALL RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
WHEREAS, domestic violence is a complex societal issue for which effective solutions require the combined efforts of key stakeholders, including emergency medical services personnel and other "first responders" who are often the first to respond to calls for help from victims of domestic violence; and
WHEREAS, through their close interactions with known or suspected victims of domestic violence, emergency medical services personnel and other first responders are uniquely positioned to assess significant threats to a victim's life or personal safety; and
WHEREAS, the data collected by emergency medical services personnel and other first responders during scene assessments is valuable not only in helping to keep victims of domestic violence safe, but also in more effectively preparing emergency medical services personnel and other first responders for the potential dangers associated with responding to domestic violence incidents; and
WHEREAS, according to a 2017 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in killings of women nationally when the circumstances were known, more than fifty percent of cases involved intimate partner violence, and one in ten victims of intimate partner violence-related homicide had reportedly experienced violence in the month preceding death; and
WHEREAS, locally, the average annual number of cases in the Department of Health's Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch Pre-Hospital Medical Record System from 2013 through 2015 that involved intimate partner violence against females aged twelve to fifty years was seven hundred eighteen in the City and County of Honolulu, one hundred sixteen in Hawaii County, one hundred five in Maui County, and twenty-six in Kauai County; and
WHEREAS, it is not the Legislature's intent to interfere with the critical and time-sensitive work of first responders, but the inherent opportunity to provide urgent interventions during the initial response to domestic violence incidents should not be ignored; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to convene a task force to examine how a statewide use of domestic violence assessments and response protocol by emergency medical services personnel can help to strengthen the State's overall response to domestic violence; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to include the following members:
(1) The Director of Health, or the Director's designee, who is requested to serve as the chair of the task force;
(2) The respective Emergency Medical Services chiefs of the City and County of Honolulu and the Counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui, or their designees;
(3) A member of each house of the Legislature, to be designated by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively; provided that at least one of the designated members is requested to be a member of the Women's Legislative Caucus;
(4) A representative from the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence or other similar victim advocacy organization invited by the chair of the task force;
(5) A representative from a domestic violence advocacy organization from each county invited by the chair of the task force; and
(6) One or more survivors and parents of survivors of domestic violence from each county invited by the chair of the task force; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the chair of the task force is requested to invite other individuals with relevant knowledge or experience to be members of the task force, including the respective police chiefs of the four counties or their designees, and representatives of government or community-based entities that share or compare data with emergency medical services personnel or other first responders to incidents of domestic violence; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall incorporate the use of teleconferencing at all meetings to allow greater participation by neighbor island members; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no member of the task force shall be made subject to chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes, solely because of that member's participation on the task force; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to examine:
(1) Whether the development of domestic violence assessments and response protocol may better protect victims of domestic violence and first responders; and
(2) Issues relevant to the implementation of domestic violence assessments and response protocol; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to provide administrative support for the task force; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2019; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health; the respective Emergency Medical Services chiefs of the City and County of Honolulu and the Counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui; the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and the Executive Director of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Domestic Violence Assessments and Response Protocol; First Responders; Task Force
