MONTPELIER -- A bill that comes up for debate today in the House would set up a testing process for emergency personnel and other first responders -- including members of ski patrols -- should they end up with significant exposure to body fluids. It allows them to request blood tests of those they treated.

Rescue personnel can't always control their exposure to blood and body fluids when they pull victims from accident scenes -- despite wearing gloves, eye protection and masks.

"Blood on gloves is routine," said Matt Vinci, who is a captain in the South Burlington Fire Department, president of the Professional Firefighters of Vermont and chairman of the Coalition of Fire and Rescue Services. "A significant amount in the eye, nose or mouth, that is when we become a patient."

The hazards that Vinci and other emergency workers worry about are blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B and C viruses and the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

Under the bill, endorsed unanimously by the House Human Services Committee on Tuesday, a physician could order a test for blood-borne pathogens on behalf of a rescue worker after determining there had been significant exposure as defined in guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It wouldn't be every single exposure," Vinci said. "We feel this is important, but it will impact very few exposures."

A living patient would have to consent. The test would automatically take place, if requested, on someone who had died.

The bill requires strict confidentiality about the results of the test -- to protect the "source patient" as well as the rescue worker.

Supporters, such as Vinci and Rep. Harry Chen, D-Mendon, an emergency room physician, say the bill balances rescuers' need to know with patients' rights of privacy about health conditions.

Serena Hollmeyer, anti-stigma program specialist with Vermont CARES, disagrees. Vermont CARES works with people who are HIV-positive or have AIDS. She argues the emphasis should be on how to avoid exposure, not on mandating tests -- even of the dead.

"People don't understand why it matters even if someone is dead," Hollmeyer said. The stigma associated with HIV, she said, "is unlike any other medical condition."

Hollmeyer says there has yet to be a single case in Vermont of HIV contracted by emergency personnel.

"Until they provide really compelling statistics," she said, "we don't feel that it's worth stepping across the line into someone's privacy."

Virginia Renfrew, a lobbyist representing Vermont CARES at the Statehouse deliberations on the bill, noted that negative test results could be misleading. "There are false negatives."

Renfrew and Hollmeyer both said rescue workers could and should begin a drug regimen if they receive significant exposure to body fluids. If started within 72 hours and continued for a month, it eliminates the risk of contracting HIV.

"It is a tough issue to balance public health with privacy concerns," said House Human Services Chairwoman Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington.

Vice Chairman Michael Fisher, D-Lincoln, said the panel didn't see how it could turn its back on emergency personnel. "We are talking about the people who clean up, pull us out of cars," he said. "I understand why they want to have this health care information."

The committee didn't go along with requiring patients to be tested against their will. "What we found was people who are asked tend to say yes," Fisher said.

Vinci said he welcomes the step the bill takes to set up a mechanism for testing. "It is important to us. It isn't just peace-of-mind legislation. This is about our health and safety."

Contact Nancy Remsen at 229-1298 or nremsen@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com