Amended in Assembly April 13, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 299

Introduced by Assembly Member Brown

February 12, 2015

An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 116090.5) to Chapter 5 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 299, as amended, Brown. Public health: drownings.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health in state government. Existing law vests within the department certain duties and powers to protect and preserve the public health. Existing law provides for the regulation of recreational water use, as specified, including, but not limited to, swimming pools and wave pools.

This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to create, by regulation, a submersion incident report form for the reporting of all statewide drownings or begin delete near end delete begin insert nonfatal end insert drownings, as specified. The bill would require the form to be used and completed by every local law enforcement entity, fire department, and any other first responder, as defined, for every drowning or begin delete near end delete begin insert nonfatal end insert drowning for which the entity, department, or first responder provides services or investigates begin insert and for which a person is treated or hospitalized for respiratory distress end insert . The bill would require the form to be submitted to the begin delete department, and as specified. end delete begin insert department and each local county health department. The bill would require the department and those entities to compile specified data from those forms and to post that data annually on their Internet Web sites. end insert

By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert This act shall be known and may be cited as the
Brandon Patrick Water Safety Act. end insert

begin delete SECTION 1. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Article 7 (commencing with Section 116090.5) is added
to Chapter 5 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

 

Article 7.  Drownings

 

116090.5.  

(a) The department shall, by regulation, create a
submersion incident report form for the reporting of all statewide
drownings or begin delete near end delete begin insert nonfatal end insert drownings for use as required pursuant
to this section. The form shall, at a minimum, include all of the
following:

(1) The title, “Submersion Incident Report Form.”

(2) A box to be filled in entitled, “Basic Incident Information”
to include the date of incident, time of incident, address of incident,
and type of dwelling. begin insert For the “type of dwelling,” the form shall
include an additional question as to whether the dwelling was a
“house, apartment, or other____ (specify).” end insert

(3) A box to be filled in entitled, “Victim Information” to include
the age and gender of the victim, the victim’s race or ethnicity,
where the victim was last seen, the estimated length of time
submersed, the type of clothing worn by the victim, begin delete and whether
alcohol or drug use was involved. end delete begin insert whether a flotation device was
worn by the victim, and the circumstances that led to the drowning
or nonfatal drowning. For those “circumstances,” the form shall
include an additional question as to whether “drugs, alcohol,
trauma, a preexisting condition, or other____ (specify)” led to,
or were involved in, the drowning or nonfatal drowning. end insert

(4) A box to be filled in entitled, “Water Source Information”
to include a description of the site of incident, water clarity, water
depth, water type, whether there were toys or objects in the water,
and, if applicable, whether the pool or spa was built before 1998.
begin insert For the “water type,” the form shall include an additional question
as to whether the water type was a “pool, spa, lake, river, pond,
bathtub, ocean, or other____ (specify).” end insert

(5) A box to be filled in entitled, “Adult Supervision” to include
a description of who the supervisor was at the time of, or prior to,
the incident, and whether a child protective services referral was
made. begin insert For purposes of this paragraph, the form shall also include
the following: end insert

begin insert

(A) An additional question as to whether the supervisor at the
time of incidence was the victim’s “mother, father, babysitter,
relative, or other ____ (specify).”

end insert begin insert

(B) With regard to whether a child protective services referral
has been made, a “Yes or No” to be printed, for the person filling
out the form to circle.

end insert begin insert

(C) The question, “Was submersion witnessed?”

end insert begin insert

(D) The question, “Was there a trained lifeguard on duty?”

end insert

(6) A box to be filled in entitled, “Barrier Information” to
include whether water barriers, other barriers, or an alarm were
present or activated and information on how the water was accessed
by the victim. begin insert For purposes of this paragraph, the form shall also
include the following: end insert

begin insert

(A) The question, “Was there a working barrier?”

end insert begin insert

(B) The question, “Was there a secondary barrier in working
order around the water (or pool)?”

end insert begin insert

(C) The question, “Were there other barriers?”

end insert

(7) A box to be filled in entitled, “Classes/Emergency
Preparation” to include whether rescue equipment was near the
water, whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed and,
if so, by whom, whether the victim ever took swim classes, and
whether the victim was dead on the scene. begin insert For purposes of this
paragraph, the form shall also include the following: end insert

begin insert

(A) The question, “Who pulled the victim out of the water?”

end insert begin insert

(B) The question, “Was CPR performed?”

end insert begin insert

(C) The question, “If CPR was performed, was the person CPR
trained?”

end insert begin insert

(D) The question, “If CPR was performed, what type of CPR
was performed? Chest compression only, rescue breathing only,
or both?”

end insert

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The form created pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
used and completed by every local law enforcement entity, fire
department, and any other first responder begin insert at the scene end insert for every
begin delete drowning or near drowning end delete begin insert person who is treated or hospitalized
for respiratory distress from submersion or immersion in liquid end insert
for which the entity, department, or first responder provides
services or investigates. After completion, the form shall be
submitted to the department and to begin delete any other entity within the city,
county, or city and county that requires the collection of drowning
information or near drowning information. end delete begin insert the local county health
department. This form is not required for persons rescued and
released who do not have signs or symptoms of respiratory distress. end insert

begin insert

(2) Based upon the forms received pursuant to paragraph (1),
the department and each local county health department shall
compile and distribute statistical information on those drownings
and nonfatal drownings by posting that information on their
Internet Web sites on an annual basis by February 1 of each year.

end insert

(c) The department shall make the form available on its Internet
Web site in a manner that allows every city, county, and city and
county to download the form and use it as their official form for
purposes of subdivision (b).

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), every city, county, and
city and county may also affix its official logo to the form and its
official contact information, including, but not limited to, begin delete phone end delete
begin insert telephone end insert number, facsimile number, or electronic mail address.

(e) For purposes of this section, the following begin delete definitions end delete begin insert terms end insert
shall have the following meanings:

(1) “Department” means the State Department of Public Health.

begin insert

(2) “Drowning” means the process of experiencing respiratory
impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  “First responder” includes, but is not limited to, any entity
that arranges for, or provides, emergency medical services within
its boundaries, including begin delete paramedic services end delete begin insert lifeguards end insert .

begin insert

(4) “Nonfatal drowning” means survival after drowning.

end insert

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.