NEW RULES FOR THE REPORTING OF GUNSHOTS AND STAB WOUNDS

The government of Saskatchewan is proposing new procedures for the compulsory reporting of gunshots and stab wounds by hospitals to local police services.

The Gunshot and Stab Wounds Mandatory Reporting Act allows the policing community to address violence by working with front line health care providers to improve public safety.

"Where there are violent acts in our communities, it is imperative that police services are informed of such activities so that they are able to commence an effective investigation," Justice Minister Frank Quennell said. "This Bill works with health service providers and our medical community to ensure that this will occur."

Under this Bill, hospitals will be required to report gunshots and stab wounds to local police services by telephone as soon as possible after the hospital has received a patient with such a wound, as long as it does not interfere with the patient's treatment.

The reporting will be limited to the identification of the patient, the fact that they have suffered a gunshot or stab wound, and the location of the hospital facility where they have been treated. No further medical information will be disclosed through this process.

Previous reporting of gunshots and stab wounds was discretionary and resulted in confusion within the health services and policing communities. The mandatory requirements proposed in this Bill will remove that confusion.

Saskatchewan is the second jurisdiction in Canada to introduce this type of legislation and the first to apply it to stab wounds. Ontario proclaimed similar legislation in September 2005.

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For More Information, Contact:

Andrew Dinsmore Justice Regina Phone: 306-787-8606 Email: adinsmore@justice.gov.sk.ca