Count Mike Hurley as a fan of the province's new Emergency Services Disclosure Act.
The act was introduced in Victoria on April 30, and it specifies a process in which an emergency responder, such as a firefighter, can obtain a court order to confidentially learn the infectious diseases status of an individual whose bodily fluids they've come in contact with on the job.
The bill has privacy provisions which will assure that information is only shared with a physician and sets penalties for non-compliance of testing orders.
The bill also establishes a presumption of disease exposure for first responders seeking workers' compensation benefits.
"This act is designed to protect the emergency responders who, without hesitation and on a daily basis, will put themselves in harm's way to protect every citizen in the province," said Mike Hurley, a Burnaby firefighter and president of the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters Association.
"In Burnaby, I know that we have had, at times, crews exposed to blood-borne diseases, and this creates great stress amongst the crews. We have firefighters going home to their families with a great deal of anxiety, and this act will hopefully take away some of that anxiety.
The bill, which is similar to legislation that's already in place in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, is expected to be enacted within a month.
"It's taken B.C. some time to do what other provinces have already enacted," said Hurley. "We are happy that this is happening now."
The firefighters' association has 3,800 members.
