State Assemblyman Rob Clifton (R-Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Burlington) is renewing his call for legislative action on a bill that seeks to protect the lives and well-being of police officers and emergency medical personnel.
Clifton’s legislation (A3104), which was introduced in February 2016, would require drug users who were revived with Narcan or a similar opioid antidote to undergo blood testing for infectious diseases if a police officer or a first responder was exposed to bodily fluid during the procedure when the antidote was administered, according to a press release.
“Every day, our police and EMS workers risk their health responding to drug-related emergencies,” Clifton said. “Narcan has been administered more than 18,000 times in this state since 2014. When the drug is administered, and during the resuscitation of the endangered user, contact with blood or digestive liquids is a common occurrence.”
Clifton introduced the bill after a police officer was potentially contaminated when he administered Narcan to save an overdose victim. Assemblymen Dave Rible (R-Monmouth) and Daniel Benson (D-Mercer) have joined Clifton as sponsors of the measure, according to the press release.
“Emergency workers who may be exposed deserve to know if their patient is carrying a blood borne illness. Why should a responder who saved a life have to live with uncertainty about their own health?” Clifton said. “It is time to pass this bill and give our police and ambulance workers the peace of mind and certainty they earn.”
On Feb. 8, a spokesman for Clifton said the Assembly bill has been referred to the Health and Senior Services Committee for further consideration. A Senate version of the bill has been introduced and has been referred to the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, he said.