Chicago DUI lawyer comments on DUI suspects going to the front of the triage queue in hospitals for DUI blood draws

This Chicago DUI lawyer has posted here and here on the tension between medical personnel, HIPAA (The Federal Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act), and Illinois DUI law around DUI blood draws. I've also posted here about jurisdictions having the cops do the DUI blood draws here. Now comes word that Illinois is trying to get paramedics to do DUI draws instead.

September 26, Chicago, Il

State law says police officers can require suspected drunken drivers to submit to a blood test if they're involved in a serious or fatal accident.

But what, if any, obligation do hospitals have to carry out an officer's request to draw a DUI suspect's blood?

That's one of the questions raised by the arrest of an emergency room nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center during a dispute with a police officer over drawing blood from a suspected DUI driver.

Chicago hospitals contacted by the Sun-Times said they typically don't draw blood unless a person has been admitted for medical treatment, even if asked to do so by a police officer.

Some hospitals, such as Stroger Hospital, won't draw blood for a non-medical reason without a court order.

But state law allows blood drawn from an injured DUI suspect during emergency troom treatment to be used as evidence in court.

Dr. William Sullivan, past president of the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians and director of emergency medicine at St. Mary's Hospital in Streator, said hospitals want to help police but are worried about being sued by suspects whose blood was taken against their will or having to neglect emergency patients to tend to police requests.

In an effort to expedite blood draws for DUI suspects, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police is trying to work with paramedics and firefighters to draft legislation requiring paramedics to draw blood at the direction of police officers investigating alcohol-related crashes resulting in death or great bodily harm, said Limey Nargelenas, a lobbyist for the group.

The group said it recognizes that there may be resistance from paramedics who worry they would have to go to court to regularly testify in DUI cases.

"We're trying to work these issues out," Nargelenas said.

I can certainly say that if a patient in the emergency room is waiting for treatment and a DUI suspect, who does not need medical treatment, is there awaiting a blood draw, the patient should be treated first. In that instance, there are a host of liability issues for the hospital in doing DUI blood draws. What if they do the DUI blood draw and miss treating someone else in a timely manner? Folks it's called the emergency room for a reason, and a DUI blood draw, when the suspect doesn't require medical attention, doesn't jump to the front of the line of people waiting for treatment and admission to the hospital without adequate emergency room triage procedures being followed.