HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	41
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION cards or DEVICES TO SUPPLEMENT EXISTING HAWAII STATE IDENTIFICATION cards.

     WHEREAS, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately thirty-two thousand Hawaii adults live with serious mental illness and about twelve thousand Hawaii children live with serious mental conditions; and

     WHEREAS, many people have complex medical conditions that cannot be adequately stated on a medical alert device or people may have conditions that they are reluctant to have publicly displayed on a medical alert device; and

     WHEREAS, children may not be able to accurately convey the specific type of medical condition that they have to teachers, coaches, or daycare providers without a proper special identification card or device; and

     WHEREAS, elderly people or people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia may become so disoriented that it would be very difficult for them to inform another person about their medical conditions or other vital information; and

     WHEREAS, children and adults with medical conditions possibly may be more inclined to wear medical identification jewelry if the jewelry is attractive and comfortable; and

     WHEREAS, medical identification is now available in many forms, such as cards, jewelry, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and near field communication tags; and

     WHEREAS, there are medical identification bracelets for:

(1)  Advance directives;

(2)  Blood type;

(3)  The presence of implants;

(4)  Organ donor status;

(5)  The presence of a pacemaker; and

(6)  Many other types of medical conditions; and

     WHEREAS, with current technology, emergency medical personnel can access a person's full medical history via medical identification card, text message, or computer; and

     WHEREAS, in the case of a medical emergency, people who have special identification cards that state a person's medical conditions will be able to more quickly convey their medical conditions to medical personnel, health care professionals, and bystanders, which will help to prevent unnecessary delay in obtaining medical treatment; and

     WHEREAS, Hawaii currently offers people the option of obtaining Hawaii state identification cards but not any other type of special identification cards or devices; and

     WHEREAS, having a reliable and accessible source of information about a patient's medical conditions, such as the Department of Transportation, to supplement what may be found on the patient's identification card would make it easier for medical personnel to gather information about the patient; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that the Department of Transportation is requested to develop and issue special identification devices, such as medical identification cards, medical identification jewelry, or other alternative types of special identification that allows the card holder or the device holder to provide information about their specific medical conditions so that in the case of an emergency, any person identifying the special identification card or device will be alerted to the card or device holder's medical conditions; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to consider different forms of special identification, such as:

     (1)  Jewelry;

     (2)  License plates;

     (3)  Name plates;

     (4)  Pins;

     (5)  Stickers for wheelchairs; and

     (6)  Any other forms of special identification that may be necessary; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation consider the issue of implementing a provision on the Hawaii state identification card indicating that the holder also has a special identification card or device; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Director of Transportation, and the Director of the Alzheimer's Association Aloha Chapter.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Requesting the DOT to Develop and Issue Special Identification Cards or Devices for People with Special Needs