Section 13823.13 Of Chapter 3. Criminal Justice Planning From California Penal Code >> Title 6. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 3.
13823.13
. (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"
means a physician and surgeon currently licensed pursuant to Chapter
5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 of the Business and
Professions Code, or a nurse currently licensed pursuant to Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 2700) of Division 2 of the Business and
Professions Code who works in consultation with a physician and
surgeon or who conducts examinations described in Section 13823.9 in
a general acute care hospital or in the office of a physician and
surgeon, a nurse practitioner currently licensed pursuant to Chapter
6 (commencing with Section 2834) of Division 2 of the Business and
Professions Code, or a physician assistant licensed pursuant to
Chapter 7.7 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 2 of the
Business and Professions Code.
(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.