PLATFORM : Problems in Warning About AIDS

Should police, firefighters and medics responding to emergency calls be made aware that there could be AIDS-infected victims involved? Until recently, this controversial procedure was the norm in the Bay Area. DR. GREGG A. PANE, assistant director of emergency medicine at UC Irvine Medical Center, offered these comments to The Times:

While this procedure was well-intended, it is not the best approach to ensuring the safety of emergency medical personnel and the patients they so ably serve.

There are two potential problems with this policy:

-- Providers might tend to be less vigilant in observing full precautions with other patients.

-- Patient confidentiality could be compromised during the dispatch process.

Emergency service providers are obligated by their own high standard of ethics and by law to treat all patients. In an emergency situation, data about HIV infection may be unavailable, unknown or unable to be obtained. As such, they are the most vulnerable to transmission of an infectious disease from patient to provider.

Since any emergency patient could have a communicable disease, the only effective preventive strategy is strict observation of universal precautions.