(a) The Office of Emergency Services shall develop a course of training for qualified health care professionals relating to the examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault. In developing the curriculum for the course, the Office of Emergency Services shall consult with health care professionals and appropriate law enforcement agencies. The Office of Emergency Services shall also obtain recommendations from the same health care professionals and appropriate law enforcement agencies on the best means to disseminate the course of training on a statewide basis. The Office of Emergency Services is encouraged to designate a course of training for qualified health care professionals, as described in this section, and shall partner with other allied professionals training courses, such as sexual assault investigator training administered by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), sexual assault prosecutor training as administered by the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), or sexual assault advocate training as administered by the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CalCASA).
(b) The training course developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be designed to train qualified health care professionals to do all of the following:
(1) Perform a health assessment of victims of sexual assault in accordance with any applicable minimum standards set forth in Section 13823.11.
(2) Collect and document physical and laboratory evidence in accordance with any applicable minimum standards set forth in Section 13823.11.
(3) Provide information and referrals to victims of sexual assault to enhance the continuity of care of victims.
(4) Present testimony in court.
(c) As used in this section, “qualified health care professional” has the same meaning as defined in Section 13823.5.
(d) As used in this section, “appropriate law enforcement agencies” may include, but shall not be limited to, the Attorney General of the State of California, any district attorney, and any agency of the State of California expressly authorized by statute to investigate or prosecute law violators.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 714, Sec. 9. (AB 538) Effective January 1, 2020.)