Vermont’s law enforcement, emergency responders and health care workers will be better protected from exposure to bodily fluids and disease under two bills that have become law.
One measure sets penalties of up to a year in prison and a fine of $1,000 or both for assaulting law enforcement officers with bodily fluids.
The other would allow the testing of a deceased patient for certain diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B or C if a health care or public safety worker was significantly exposed to the bodily fluids of that person.
The second bill was pushed after a ski patroller at Sugarbush ski resort performed CPR on a person who later died. The ski patroller could not learn the person’s health history.
Governor Jim Douglas signed both bills into law yesterday.