ROAD TRANSPORT (ALCOHOL AND DRUGS) ACT 1977 - SECT 15AA Taking blood samples from people in hospital
ROAD TRANSPORT (ALCOHOL AND DRUGS) ACT 1977 - SECT 15AA
Taking blood samples from people in hospital(1) This section applies if a doctor or nurse attending to a person in a hospital believes on reasonable grounds that—
(a) the person—
(i) was involved in an accident; and
(ii) is at least 15 years old; and
(iii) was admitted to the hospital for examination or treatment because of the accident; and
(b) the accident happened not more than 6 hours before the person arrived at the hospital.
(2) The doctor or nurse must, as soon as practicable but not more than 2 hours after the person arrives at the hospital, take a sample of the person's blood for analysis.
(3) A doctor or nurse must not fail to take a sample of blood under subsection (2) only because—
(a) the person is unconscious; or
(b) the doctor or nurse is of the opinion that the person is, because of their medical condition, incapable of giving or refusing permission to take such a sample.
Note See section 17 (2) for circumstances when a doctor or nurse is not required to take a sample of blood.
(4) The person (the sample taker ) taking a sample of blood from a patient must—
(a) place the sample into a container; and
(b) attach a label to the container that includes the following information:
(i) the sample taker's name;
(ii) the patient's name;
(iii) the date and time the sample was taken; and
(c) ensure that the container is sealed with a tamper-evident seal that has a unique identifying number marked on it; and
(d) put the sealed container into a one-way box.
(5) The chief police officer must, as soon as practicable, arrange for the container to be collected from the one-way box by an analyst.
(6) In this section:
"accident" means an accident on a road or road related area, whether within or outside the ACT and whether or not it involves a motor vehicle.
"animal" means a horse, cattle or sheep.
"drive", a vehicle—see section 24A (5).
"involved in an accident"—a person was involved in an accident if the person—
(a) was a driver or driver trainer of a motor vehicle involved in an accident; or
(b) was driving, or attempting to drive, a vehicle involved in an accident; or
(c) was riding, or attempting to ride, an animal involved in an accident; or
(d) was a pedestrian involved in an accident that involved a vehicle or motor vehicle.
"vehicle"—see section 24A (5).