The Pennsylvania DUI Association is partnering with WellSpan Health to offer training opportunities for eligible law enforcement to become qualified phlebotomists able to draw blood in instances like suspecting impaired drivers.

Currently, suspected impaired drivers requiring lab testing must be brought to the hospital by law enforcement to collect the specimen by certified phlebotomists. Now eligible Pennsylvania officers can apply to receive training through WellSpan’s already established and advanced training curriculum and be qualified to successfully draw blood when impairment is suspected in real time at the police station. Over time, as officers are trained and certified, this will help to advance public safety ultimately contributing to safer roads and healthier communities while getting timely collections and requiring less support from hospital emergency departments.

“With more than 40,000 DUI cases each year in Pennsylvania, we know this training will make a difference to offer timely and efficient results for prosecution of DUI cases with the inclusion of critical toxicology evidence at trial,” said Leo Hegarty, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania DUI Association. “Officers are often faced with significant drive time to a medical facility and then additional wait time for an available phlebotomist to draw the blood. With the prevalence of drug impaired driving, it is known many drugs dissipate in an impaired person’s blood to very low or even non-detectable quantities very quickly. Obtaining the blood evidence sooner in the investigative process provides a more accurate measure of any potential impairing substances in the blood of a suspected impaired driver and will allow officers to return to their patrol duties in a more efficient manner.”

The first six law enforcement students selected to attend the training are currently certified as Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) representing Armstrong, Berks, Blair, Cambria, Mercer, and Mifflin counties. The selected officers have extensive training above and beyond the average officer regarding drug impairment and the major systems in the human body.

Pennsylvania received federal funding to begin training at WellSpan York Hospital effective June 12, 2024. The first in-person training will start on July 15, 2024. WellSpan will provide all the phlebotomy training for any law enforcement officers eligible and interested in becoming qualified, anticipating at least 18 officers completing the training each year. Upon successfully completing the training program, the officers will be able to draw blood from operators arrested for driving under the influence.

“By offering our effective and thorough training program to officers, we are reinforcing our commitment to public safety further by supporting safer roads and communities while also keeping emergency rooms available for anyone requiring medical attention at healthcare facilities across the state,” said Christina Scott, the Director of Laboratory Services Educational Programs, Medical Laboratory Science & Phlebotomy Programs at WellSpan. “We are proud of our program in place and the commitment from our lab team members to be able to offer this training to officers making a difference across the commonwealth.”

WellSpan Health's laboratory services exemplify a commitment to excellence, comprehensive training, and a focus on high quality and safety standards as recognized with a system accreditation from the Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) of which only 200 laboratory systems nationwide that have achieved this prestigious accreditation. Additionally, WellSpan offers a Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program, accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS). With another class currently underway, 65 classes have graduated from this MLS program thus far with a 100% first-time pass rate for students for more than 20 years, well above the national average of 69%.

Through this partnership, Pennsylvania now joins 22 other states across the country that also offer training for police officers as law enforcement phlebotomists through the national Law Enforcement Phlebotomy Program.

For more information about the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DECP) at PA DUI, visit www.decp.org.

For more information about the WellSpan Lab Services network, visit WellSpan.org/Labs.