SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 35

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO CONDUCT STATEWIDE TRAINING IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SERVICE STANDARDS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS.

     WHEREAS, when individuals with developmental disabilities encounter health care providers and first responders such as firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians, dispatchers, physicians, dentists, nurses, physician assistants, dental hygienists, medical imaging professionals, nurse's aides and other allied health professionals, laboratory technicians and hospital staff, the experience can be traumatic for the individuals with developmental disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, when an individual with a developmental disability is taken to an emergency room, the individual may be left to wait for hours, and given the nature of the individual's disability, the long wait can cause the individual to react with fear and act out by screaming or abusing himself or herself; and

     WHEREAS, when an individual with a developmental disability reacts with fear and acts out in a health care setting, health care providers often respond with anger, and they either refuse service altogether or they make the individual with a developmental disability wait longer than individuals without a developmental disability have to wait; and

     WHEREAS, individuals with developmental disabilities are often unable to obtain laboratory blood work, x-rays and other health care services they need because of some health care providers' ignorance, hostility or neglect of these individuals' needs; and

     WHEREAS, due to the negative reactions of some hospital staff to individuals with developmental disabilities, individuals with developmental disabilities have been released from hospitals too early after procedures in circumstances that would normally entail several days' recovery at the hospital; and

     WHEREAS, due to the nature of their disability, some individuals with developmental disabilities only report symptoms when they are extremely serious because these individuals have extremely high pain tolerance; and

     WHEREAS, regardless of the seriousness of the conditions with which an individual with a developmental disability may present in a health care setting, some health care providers and first responders might refuse service or fail to work to understand the nature of the individual's condition due to the individual's manner of communicating; and

     WHEREAS, sometimes in the process, when communication fails or an individual with a developmental disability acts out in a health care or emergency setting, the individual is injured when health care or first responder personnel attempt to physically subdue the individual with a developmental disability; and

     WHEREAS, individuals with developmental disabilities often find themselves in increased danger in emergency situations when lights, sirens and strangers confront them all at once, causing the individuals with disabilities to react fearfully and flee into danger or to react defensively; and

     WHEREAS, often when an individual with a developmental disability is in an emergency situation and a caregiver attempts to intervene on the individual's behalf, first responders tell the caregiver not to "interfere", and this causes increased fear and anxiety for the individual with a developmental disability; and

     WHEREAS, many times, when an individual with a developmental disability has reacted fearfully or angrily in a stressful emergency situation, police have used a taser on the individual or otherwise have used inappropriate methods to subdue the individual with a developmental disability;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested to develop a program for training firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians, doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and other health care and emergency response personnel on standards for safely interacting with individuals with developmental disabilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, at a minimum, the training that the department of health is requested to offer include a curriculum that covers the following areas:

          A. developmental disability advocacy;

          B. foundations in health and wellness for individuals with developmental disabilities;

          C. participatory communication and decision-making related to individuals with developmental disabilities;

          D. protective behaviors support strategies;

          E. sexuality for individuals with developmental disabilities;

          F. effective teamwork; and

          G. any other curriculum that the department of health deems effective after consultation with the community of individuals with developmental disabilities and the families and caregivers of those individuals; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following agencies be respectfully urged to require their personnel to receive training using the curriculum that the department of health develops pursuant to this memorial:

          A. the department of health, including all of its divisions related to developmental disabilities, health care delivery, emergency services, public health, behavioral health and health facilities licensure;

          B. the regulation and licensing department, including its constituent professional boards relating to health and human service occupations;

          C. the department of public safety;

          D. the homeland security and emergency management department;

          E. state, federal, city, county and rural law enforcement agencies;

          F. state, federal, city and county emergency response agencies; and

          G. state, federal, city and county firefighters; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the secretary of health, the superintendent of regulation and licensing, the secretary of public safety and the secretary of homeland security and emergency management.

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