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The Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act permits individuals to apply to the court for an order to have another person tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or HIV if they have come into contact with a person’s bodily substance in any of the following circumstances:

• While providing emergency health services,
• While performing their duties as a fire fighter, emergency medical assistant or police or other peace officer, or
• When they have reason to believe that they have been the victim of an alleged offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) and have reported the matter to a law enforcement agency.

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• An “exposed individual” is the individual who came into contact with another person’s blood or other bodily substance.
• The “source individual” is the person who an exposed individual identifies as the person whose blood or other bodily substance they came into contact with.
• The “applicant” refers to an exposed individual who is applying to the court for a Testing Order.

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The Notice of Intention gives notice to the source individual of the exposed individual’s intention to apply to court for a Testing Order. The Notice provides the source individual the opportunity to be voluntarily tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV and to provide the test results voluntarily to the exposed individual’s physician, without the need to go to court.

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• The name of the source individual and their address if you know it.
• Your name as the exposed individual.
• Details on the date and circumstances of your exposure to the blood or other bodily substance of the source individual.
• The name and requested contact information for your physician.

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The Notice indicates that the exposed individual intends to apply to the court for a Testing Order requiring you to be tested to determine if they may have been exposed to these diseases as a result of coming into contact with your blood or other bodily substance.

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If you do not agree to be voluntarily tested, the exposed individual may apply to the court for a Testing Order requiring you to be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and/or HIV. The application to the court can take place as soon as 3 days after the date you were served with the Notice. The court may grant a Testing Order if the criteria set out in the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act are met. Failure to comply with a Testing Order can result in a fine of up to $10,000 per day.

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The Application must be filed with the court, and the applicant (exposed individual) must also personally serve the Application on the source individual. Refer to Serving Documents section for information on how documents are served.

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• Your name (exposed individual) as the name of the applicant.
• The name of the source individual as the name of the respondent.
• Your name, date of birth and contact information as the applicant.
• The name and as much of the requested information as you know about the source individual. If you do not know the information, leave the space blank.
• Details on the date and circumstances of your exposure to the blood or other bodily substance of the source individual.
• Add the date and your signature as the applicant.

The Provincial Court registry office will fill in the court file number, court location and the date, time and location of the court hearing when you file the Application with the court.

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Further, you must also apply within 30 days of the date that you came into contact with the blood or other bodily substance of the source individual. An Application cannot be made to the court after 30 days has passed.

To make an Application, you must file the completed Application form and related documents at one of the Provincial Court registry offices in British Columbia.

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• The original and 3 copies of the completed Application to Obtain a Testing Order,
• The original and 3 copies of the completed Physicians’ Report,
• A copy of the Notice of Intention to apply for a testing order that you served on the source individual,
• Any Affidavit of Personal Service, completed with the details relating to the Notice of Intention that you served on the source individual, and
• A Testing Order template, completed with the details for the testing order that you are asking the court to make.

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See the Serving Documents section additional information on how to serve.

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The applicant is seeking the court order because the applicant believes that they have recently come into contact with your blood or other bodily substance in a circumstance set out in the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act. The date and circumstances of the exposure are indicated on the Application.

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Refer to the section on Voluntary Testing for additional information.

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If you do not attend the hearing, the court may still proceed without you, and the court may grant a Testing Order if the judge is satisfied that the criteria set out in the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act are met.

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• Information about the exposure situation,
• The physician’s assessment of the exposure risk to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV, and
• The physician’s opinion about the need for a Testing Order.

The Physician’s Report is a required form that is part of the Application to Obtain a Testing Order, and is also served on the source individual with the Application. The court will consider the Physician’s Report when deciding whether to grant a Testing Order.

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When you serve the Application on the source individual, you must serve a copy of the completed Physician’s Report as well. You should also keep a copy of the completed Physician’s Report for your records.

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You should fill in the requested information so that the court knows the specifics of the Testing Order that you are requesting be made.

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• The applicant (exposed individual) personally served the source individual with:
  • The required Notice of Intention at least 3 days before the Application to Obtain a Testing Order, and
  • The Application to Obtain a Testing Order (including the Physician’s Report) at least 4 days before the hearing date.
  • The above steps are required unless the applicant has satisfied the court that, in the circumstances, serving the Notice of Intention or the Application to Obtain a Testing Order within a reasonable time is impossible or impracticable.
• The applicant came into contact with the blood or other bodily substance of the source individual in one of the following circumstances:
  • While providing emergency health services,
  • While performing his or her duties as a fire fighter, emergency medical assistant or police officer or other peace officer,
  • When he or she has reason to believe that he or she has been the victim of an alleged offence under the Criminal Code (Canada) and has reported the matter to a law enforcement agency.
• There are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant may have been exposed, as a result of the contact, to a pathogen (virus) that causes Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C or HIV.
• An analysis of the applicant’s blood or other bodily fluids would not determine, in a timely manner, whether the applicant has been infected.
• Taking a sample of blood or other bodily fluid from the source individual would not endanger the source individual’s life or health.
• The information to be obtained under the Testing Order cannot reasonably be obtained in any other manner.
• The Testing Order is necessary to decrease or eliminate the risk to the health of the applicant as a result of the contact.

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Refer to the Serving Documents section for information on personally serving.

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The health facility must then deliver the sample to the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control to have the sample analyzed for the diseases specified in the Testing Order. The health facility must provide a copy of the following with the sample:

• The Testing Order, and
• The information sheet called “Information Accompanying Testing Order”.

The health facility must not use the sample in any manner, or for any purpose, other than the manner and purpose specified in the Testing Order.

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When the analysis is complete, the qualified analyst must promptly:

• Provide a written report of the results to the applicant’s (exposed individual) physician.
• Provide the written report of the results to the source individual’s physician. If the source individual’s physician is not known, the written report must be provided to the source individual.
• Provide a copy of the Testing Order and “Information Accompanying Testing Order” along with the written report.

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• The sample is not used for any purpose other than the analysis required under the Testing Order,
• The sample is not released or accessible to anyone other than a person who is carrying out the analysis required by the Testing Order on behalf of the qualified analyst, and
• The results of the analysis are not disclosed except in accordance with the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act or the Public Health Act.

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If the applicant or the source individual is a minor or a represented adult, the physician may notify that person’s guardian of the test results.

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If you do not have a physician, the BC Centre for Disease Control will send the results to you directly.

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When you are tested, you will be provided with the option of whether to have your name and address included on a report to a medical health officer should you test have positive for HIV.

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If the applicant or the source individual is a minor or a represented adult, the physician may notify that person’s guardian of the test results.

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The source individual and the exposed individual (applicant) have the right to appeal the Provincial Court decision relating to a Testing Order to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
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• In the course of administering the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act or of carrying out a duty imposed or exercising a power given under the Act,
• As required by law,
• With the consent of the person the information is about,
• In the course of a consultation between qualified health professionals, or
• In the case of information about a person who is a minor or represented adult, to a guardian of that person.

In addition, the test results from a Testing Order may be disclosed in the following situations:

• To the Workers’ Compensation Board (WorkSafeBC) for the purposes of section 6.2 of the Workers Compensation Act, as long as the disclosure does not include information that would identify the source individual who was tested. Refer to the section on Workers' Compensation Claims.
• For entry into the Provincial Laboratory Information Solution Repository established as a health information bank under the E-Health (Personal Health Information Access and Protection of Privacy) Act.

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• An exposed individual who intends to apply for a Testing Order must serve a completed Notice of Intention on the source individual at least 3 days before applying for the Testing Order.
• An applicant must serve the completed Application to Obtain a Testing Order Form, including the completed Physician’s Report, on the source individual at least 4 days before the court hears the application.
• If the court grants a Testing Order, the applicant must serve the following documents on both the source individual and the health facility identified in the Testing Order:
  • The Testing Order
  • The “Information Accompanying Testing Order” document

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To serve a document personally:

• You or someone acting on your behalf will simply hand the document to the intended recipient. If the person refuses to take it, you can drop it on the floor at their feet.
• If the recipient is a medical laboratory or other health facility, you can leave the document with a receptionist or with the person who seems to be in charge.
• If the person to be served is under the age of 19, you should instead personally serve the document on the guardian of that person.

Keep a copy of any documents you serve on another individual.

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Sometimes distance makes it inconvenient or impossible for you to serve the documents. Or you may feel that you will be in an awkward or even dangerous situation if you serve the documents yourself. In any of these cases, there are professional process servers who will personally serve the recipient for you, for a fee. You can get the name of a process server from the yellow pages telephone directory or the internet.

Or, you can ask a friend to do it for you. If the recipient is in another town, you might be able to courier it to a friend there (or mail it if timeframes permit) and have him or her serve it for you.

If you have someone else serve a notification or document for you, you should make sure that the other person is aware of any required time frames for serving the document, and the requirement for an Affidavit of Personal Service to be signed whoever has served the document. You must file the completed and signed Affidavit of Personal Service with the Provincial Court registry office.

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For example, if you know where the person lives but they refuse to come to the door, or arrange not to be there whenever you knock, you might get permission to serve the document by taping it to the recipient’s front door.

Another example would be if you know that the recipient lives in a certain town but you can't find out the address, you might get permission to serve the document by publishing a legal notice in the classified section of the local newspaper. This can be an expensive option.

In yet another example, the court might allow you to serve the document by leaving it with a relative of the person, or leaving it at the person's last known address.

The more you know about the person’s circumstances, the better. The court will make an order allowing service in whatever way is most likely to bring it to the person’s attention.

Before asking for some other method of service, you should already have tried several times to serve it in the normal way. Be prepared to give details of how you tried to serve the document, what happened and why the substitutional method of service you are asking for will succeed.

Normally, the court will make an order allowing for some other method of service and you must also serve a copy of that order on the person.

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If there is more than one person served, a separate Affidavit of Personal Service must be prepared for each person.

Keep a copy of any Affidavit of Personal Service you file with the court registry.

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If your address changes, you should write to the court registry to let them know. A postcard will do - just be sure to print clearly your name, your new address and the file number of your case. You will have to send the same thing to every other party in the case: the exposed individual, the source individual and any third parties.

If you don't advise the registry and the other parties involved of your change of address, they are entitled to keep sending things to your old address and it will not be possible to keep you informed about what is happening in your case.

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• You cannot submit an Application to Obtain a Testing Order until at least 3 days have passed since the date that you served the Notice of Intention.
• You must submit the Application to Obtain a Testing Order within 30 days of the date that you came into contact with the blood or other bodily substance of the source individual.
• You must personally serve the Application to Obtain a Testing Order and completed Physician’s Report on the source individual after the Provincial Court registry office has entered the date, time and location of the court hearing on the Application, and at least 4 days before the scheduled date for the court hearing.

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• The worker came into contact with the blood or other bodily substance of the source individual in the course of the worker’s employment.
• The worker obtained a Testing Order respecting the source individual under the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act.
• The test results from the Testing Order indicate that the source individual is infected with the virus that causes the disease that the worker contracted.

The presumption assists workers covered by the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act to qualify for worker’s compensation benefits without having to provide additional medical or other evidence regarding their situation.

Test results from a Testing Order may be disclosed to the Workers’ Compensation Board (WorkSafeBC) for the purposes this presumption, as long as the disclosure does not include information that would identify the source individual who was tested.

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For more information on disease exposures, please refer to WorkSafeBC's policy C3-12.30 on infectious agent and disease exposures. For further information on occupational diseases, please visit WorkSafeBC.

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