House Bill No. 8008
House Bill No. 8008
June 18 Special Session, PUBLIC ACT NO. 97-10
AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO EXPENDITURES FOR
THE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC HEALTH.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-683 of the general
statutes, as amended by section 18 of public act
97-8 of the June 18 special session, is repealed
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) Any police officer finding a person who
appears to be intoxicated in a public place and in
need of help may, with such person's consent,
assist such person to his home, a treatment
facility, or a hospital or other facility able to
accept such person.
(b) Any police officer finding a person who
appears to be incapacitated by alcohol shall take
him into protective custody and have him brought
forthwith to a treatment facility which provides
medical triage in accordance with regulations
adopted pursuant to section 19a-495 or to a
hospital. The police, in detaining the person and
in having him brought forthwith to such a
treatment facility or a hospital, shall be taking
him into protective custody and shall make every
reasonable effort to protect his health and
safety. In taking the person into protective
custody, the detaining officer may take reasonable
steps to protect himself. A taking into protective
custody under this section is not an arrest. No
entry or other record shall be made to indicate
that the person has been arrested or charged with
a crime. For purposes of this section "medical
triage" means a service which provides immediate
assessment of symptoms of substance abuse, the
immediate care and treatment of these symptoms as
necessary, a determination of need for treatment,
and assistance in attaining appropriate continued
treatment.
(c) A person who is brought to a treatment
facility which provides medical triage in
accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to
section 19a-495 or to a hospital shall be examined
by a medical officer or his designee as soon as
possible. The medical officer shall determine
whether the person requires inpatient treatment
based upon the medical examination of the person
and upon a finding that the person is
incapacitated by alcohol.
(d) If the medical officer determines that the
person requires inpatient treatment, the person
shall be (1) admitted to, referred to or detained
at a treatment facility that provides medical
treatment for detoxification or a hospital or (2)
committed to a treatment facility operated by the
Department of Public Health and Addiction Services
for emergency treatment pursuant to the provisions
of section 17a-684. A person treated under
subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be
admitted as a voluntary patient, or, if necessary,
detained for necessary treatment. If such person
is referred to another treatment facility or
another hospital, the referring facility or
hospital shall arrange for his transportation.
(e) Any person admitted or detained as a
patient under subdivision (1) of subsection (d) of
this section shall be released once he is no
longer incapacitated by alcohol or within
forty-eight hours, whichever is shorter, unless he
consents to further medical evaluation or
treatment.
(f) If a patient is admitted to a treatment
facility or hospital, his family or next of kin
shall, unless prohibited by federal law, be
notified as promptly as possible. If a patient who
is not incapacitated by alcohol requests that
there be no notification, his request shall be
respected.
(g) A person who is not admitted to a
treatment facility or a hospital, is not referred
to another treatment facility or hospital and has
no funds may be taken to his home, if any. If he
has no home, the facility shall assist him in
obtaining shelter.
[(h) Each provider under contract with the
Department of Social Services or the Department of
Mental Health and Addiction Services for the
provision of comprehensive health care coverage on
a prepayment or per capita basis for Medicaid or
other public assistance recipients pursuant to
section 17b-266 shall be liable for payment, in
accordance with applicable reimbursement rates, to
any treatment facility that provides inpatient
treatment for detoxification to any person brought
to such treatment facility under this section
without regard to whether such treatment facility
is under contract with the comprehensive health
care provider for the provision of inpatient
treatment for such recipients.]
Sec. 2. Section 7-42 of the general statutes,
as amended by section 43 of public act 97-8 of the
June 18 special session, is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof:
Each registrar of vital statistics shall
ascertain as accurately as he can all marriages
and deaths, and all births, upon the affidavit of
the father or mother, occurring in his town, and
record the same in a book or books kept by him for
that purpose, in such form and with such
particulars as are prescribed by the Department of
Public Health. He shall give licenses to marry,
according to provisions of law; shall make and
perfect all records of the birth and death of the
persons born or deceased in his town, and, when
any birth or death happens of which no certificate
is returned to him, shall obtain the information
required by law respecting such birth or death. He
shall distribute to all persons in his town who,
in his judgment, are likely to need them, blank
forms for the certificates and returns required by
law to be made to him; shall amend or correct such
certificates and the records thereof whenever he
discovers errors upon the face thereof, and shall
insert or supply therein omissions of facts
existing at the time of the recording of such
certificates except that all errors or omissions
concerned with questions of parentage [or gender]
shall be within the sole jurisdiction of the
Department of Public Health as provided in section
19a-42. He shall keep the records of his office,
when a fire-proof safe is not provided for his
use, in the vaults provided for the land records
of his town. He may, with the approval of the
Department of Public Health, store any records not
in current use in a location other than his office
or said vaults, provided such location shall be
approved by the Public Records Administrator, and
provided such location is within the limits of
such town. He shall, on or before the seventh day
of each month, send to the Commissioner of Public
Health an attested copy of each certificate of
death received by him for the calendar month next
preceding or a notification that no such
certificate has been received and on or before the
fifteenth day of every month an attested copy of
each certificate of birth and of each certificate
of marriage received by him for the month next
preceding or a notification that no such
certificate has been received. Both such
notifications shall be in a form prescribed by the
Department of Public Health. The registrar shall
also transmit from time to time to said
commissioner an attested copy of all other
certificates of births, marriages and deaths which
he acquires in amending or completing his records.
The copy shall be made in a form prescribed by the
Department of Public Health and upon blanks
provided by said department. Copies of
certificates of births, marriages and deaths,
transmitted to said commissioner as required in
this section, shall be plain and legible
transcripts of the certificates. If a transcript
is illegible, in the opinion of the commissioner,
he shall require of the registrar another copy
legibly transcribed. When a registrar having
custody of an original of a certificate of birth,
marriage or death corrects the certificate, he
shall, within ten days, forward an amended
certificate to any registrar having a copy of the
certificate. Each registrar shall inscribe upon
the back of each certificate of birth, marriage or
death received for record the date of its
reception. Each registrar of vital statistics
shall also transmit to the registrars of voters
for his town a notice of the death of any person
seventeen years of age or older, at the same time
the registrar transmits the attested copy of the
certificate of death for such person to the
Commissioner of Public Health under this section.
Sec. 3. Section 19a-42 of the general
statutes, as amended by section 44 of public act
97-8 of the June 18 special session, is repealed
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) To protect the integrity and accuracy of
vital records, a certificate registered under
chapter 93 may be amended only in accordance with
sections 19a-41 to 19a-45, inclusive, chapter 93
and regulations adopted by the Commissioner of
Public Health pursuant to chapter 54. When a
certificate is amended under this section the
commissioner shall report the amendment to the
registrars of vital statistics affected and their
records shall be amended accordingly.
(b) [Except as provided in subsections (c) and
(e) of this section, a] A certificate that is
amended under this section shall be marked
"Amended" on the original. The date of amendment
and a summary description of the evidence
submitted in support of the amendment shall be
endorsed on or made a part of the record. The
original birth, death or marriage certificate
shall be sealed and kept in a confidential file at
the Department of Public Health and may be
unsealed only upon the order of the Commissioner
of Public Health. A copy of the original shall be
made and such copy shall be amended in such a
manner that the language to be changed is no
longer visible. The copy shall be a public record.
The Commissioner of Public Health shall prescribe
by regulation, adopted in accordance with chapter
54, the conditions under which additions or minor
corrections may be made to vital records within
one year after the date of the event without the
vital record being marked "Amended".
(c) Upon written request of both parents,
receipt of a sworn acknowledgment of paternity
signed by both parents of a child born out of
wedlock and receipt of a fee of twenty-five
dollars, the Commissioner of Public Health shall
amend the birth certificate to show such paternity
if paternity is not already shown on the birth
certificate or to change the surname of the child
or both. Such certificate shall not be marked
"Amended".
(d) Upon receipt of a certified copy of an
order of a court of competent jurisdiction
changing the name of a person born in this state
and upon request of such person or his parents,
guardian, or legal representative, the
Commissioner of Public Health shall amend the
birth certificate to show the new name.
[(e) Upon request of an individual born with
hermaphroditism and receipt of a signed statement
from a physician attesting to such condition, the
commissioner shall amend the certificate to
accurately reflect the gender of the individual,
as determined by the person and his physician.
Such certificate shall not be marked "amended" and
a copy shall be made in a manner that prevents
ascertainment of the nature of the amendment.]
[(f)] (e) When an applicant submits the
documentation required by the regulations to amend
a vital record the Commissioner of Public Health
shall hold a hearing, in accordance with chapter
54, if the commissioner has reasonable cause to
doubt the validity or adequacy of such
documentation.
[(g)] (f) When an amendment under this section
involves the changing of existing language on a
death certificate due to an error pertaining to
the cause of death, the death certificate shall be
amended in such a manner that the original
language is still visible. A copy of the death
certificate shall be made. The original death
certificate shall be sealed and kept in a
confidential file at the Department of Public
Health and only the Commissioner of Public Health
may order it unsealed. The copy shall be amended
in such a manner that the language to be changed
is no longer visible. The copy shall be a public
document.
Sec. 4. Section 7-314a of the general
statutes, as amended by section 84 of public act
97-8 of the June 18 special session, is repealed
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) Except as provided in subsections (e) and
(f) of this section, active members of volunteer
fire departments and active members of
organizations certified as a volunteer [or
municipal] ambulance service in accordance with
section 19a-180 shall be construed to be employees
of the municipality for the benefit of which
volunteer fire services or such ambulance services
are rendered while in training or engaged in
volunteer fire duty or such ambulance service and
shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the
Workers' Compensation Commission and shall be
compensated in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 568 for death, disability or injury
incurred while in training for or engaged in
volunteer fire duty or such ambulance service.
(b) For the purpose of this section, the
average weekly wage of a volunteer fireman or
volunteer [or municipal] ambulance service
[provider] MEMBER shall be construed to be the
average production wage in the state as determined
by the Labor Commissioner under the provisions of
section 31-309.
(c) For the purpose of this section, there
shall be no prorating of compensation benefits
because of other employment by a volunteer fireman
or volunteer [or municipal] ambulance service
provider.
(d) For the purpose of adjudication of claims
for the payment of benefits under the provisions
of chapter 568, any condition of impairment of
health occurring to an active member of a
volunteer fire department or organization
certified as a volunteer [or municipal] ambulance
service in accordance with section 19a-180 while
such member is in training for or engaged in
volunteer fire duty or such ambulance service,
caused by hypertension or heart disease resulting
in death or temporary or permanent total or
partial disability, shall be presumed to have been
suffered in the line of duty and within the scope
of his employment, provided such member had
previously successfully passed a physical
examination by a licensed physician appointed by
such department or ambulance service which
examination failed to reveal any evidence of such
condition.
(e) Any member of a volunteer fire company or
department or organization certified as a
volunteer [or municipal] ambulance service in
accordance with section 19a-180 performing fire
duties or such ambulance service pursuant to a
mutual aid understanding between municipalities
shall be entitled to all benefits pursuant to this
section and shall be construed to be an employee
of the municipality in which his fire company or
department or such ambulance service is located.
(f) Any member of a volunteer fire company or
department and any person summoned by the State
Forest Fire Warden or by any state forest fire
personnel or district or deputy fire warden under
the supervision of the State Forest Fire Warden
pursuant to section 23-37, who performs fire
duties under the direction of such personnel or
warden pursuant to section 23-37, shall be
construed to be an employee of the state for the
purpose of receiving compensation in accordance
with the provisions of chapter 568 for death,
disability or injury incurred while performing
such fire duties under such direction.
Sec. 5. Section 7-314b of the general
statutes, as amended by section 85 of public act
97-8 of the June 18 special session, is repealed
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) Any active member of a volunteer fire
company or department engaged in volunteer fire
duties or any active member of an organization
certified as a volunteer [or municipal] ambulance
service in accordance with section 19a-180 may
collect benefits under the provisions of chapter
568 based on the salary of his employment or the
amount specified in subsection (b) of section
7-314a, AS AMENDED BY THIS ACT, whichever is
greater, if said firefighter or volunteer [or
municipal] ambulance service provider is injured
while engaged in fire duties or volunteer [or
municipal] ambulance service.
(b) As used in this section, the [term] TERMS
"fire duties" includes duties performed while at
fires, answering alarms of fire, answering calls
for mutual aid assistance, returning from calls
for mutual aid assistance, AT FIRE DRILLS OR
TRAINING EXERCISES, and directly returning from
fires, [and] "active member of a volunteer fire
company or department" includes all active members
of said fire company or department, fire patrol or
fire and police patrol company, whether paid or
not paid for their services, "ambulance service"
includes answering alarms, calls for emergency
medical service or [includes] directly returning
from calls for the emergency situations, duties
performed while performing transportation or
treatment services to patients under emergency
conditions, while at any location where emergency
medical service is rendered, while engaged in
drills or training exercises, while at tests or
trials of any apparatus or equipment normally used
in the performance of such medical service drills,
and "active member of an organization certified as
a volunteer [or municipal] ambulance service in
accordance with section 19a-180" includes all
active members of said ambulance service whether
paid or not paid for their services.
(c) The provisions of subsection (a) of this
section shall only apply if the volunteer
firefighter or volunteer [or municipal] ambulance
service provider is unable to perform his regular
employment duties.
Sec. 6. Section 83 of public act 97-8 of the
June 18 special session is repealed.
Sec. 7. This act shall take effect July 1,
1997, except that sections 2 and 3 shall take
effect October 1, 1997.