The Arizona House of Representatives has passed State Representative Khyl Powell's (R-14) House Bill 2772, which allows residents to put important medical information on state-issued IDs.
The bill allows Arizonans to indicate on a driver's license or nonoperating ID that they have a qualifying healthcare directive, including a prehospital directive. For instance, in a medical emergency, responders will be able to discover pertinent medical information more quickly, thereby ensuring life-saving care is delivered more effectively.
Additionally, House Bill 2772 replaces the Arizona medical code system to make it clearer and easier to read, further improving accuracy.
"HB 2772 protects a person's right to have lawful medical choices recognized when every second matters," said State Rep. Powell in a press release. "If someone has taken the time to make these decisions with family and medical professionals, the state should not make those wishes harder to find. For someone with a valid directive, this could be the difference between their wishes being honored or missed. An orange form sitting on a refrigerator at home does no good if the emergency happens somewhere else. This bill puts that information where it can actually be seen."
Last May, State Rep. Powell's House Bill 2894 was signed into law.
The bill tackles a similar issue by improving Arizona law enforcement's ability to issue Silver Alerts more quickly by mandating more comprehensive training for new employees and annual training for employees involved in cases of missing persons, thereby increasing the effective response rate.
"When a vulnerable person goes missing, there's no time to waste," he said at the time. "The Seek and Find Alert System ensures law enforcement won't be slowed down by red tape or outdated procedures. Whether it's a child with autism or an adult with dementia, families deserve to know that every resource is being deployed—immediately—to bring their loved one home."
