Lawmakers in Concord are moving forward with legislation to make it a felony to assault emergency department personnel.On Friday, representatives on the House Criminal Justice Committee gave bipartisan approval to a Senate-passed bill to make assaulting emergency department personnel acting in the line of duty a felony.”We have a hard enough time recruiting doctors and nurses,” said state Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield. “We’re going to continue to have a worse time the more we leave them hanging out to dry when they’re injured in a place that they should be going to help people.”Some Democrats voted against the legislation. They said they plan to bring forward a floor amendment to carve out exceptions ensuring certain people could not be charged under the new, tougher law. >> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go <<“Somebody who has a dementia diagnosis, who has intellectual or developmental disabilities which affect their ability to communicate, somebody who’s having a mental health crisis, who has a mental health diagnosis, they would be arrested,” said state Rep. Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth.Other lawmakers said they’re skeptical such people would face criminal charges in the first place.”I have 25 years in health care, and a lot of that was actually as a dementia specialist,” said state Rep. Kathleen Paquette, R-Manchester. “I can assure you that nobody’s calling the police because someone’s grandma with dementia kicked them because she was scared. I mean, nobody’s doing that.”Lawmakers who work in health care said the hypothetical concerns raised about dementia patients are being put forward in an effort to defeat the bill, just as they were when similar legal protections were proposed for paramedics.”And if you think that EMS nurses, doctors or any of those people are going to press charges against somebody that has dementia or mental health issues, you are sadly mistaken,” said state Rep. Mark Proulx, R-Manchester.

CONCORD, N.H. —

Lawmakers in Concord are moving forward with legislation to make it a felony to assault emergency department personnel.

On Friday, representatives on the House Criminal Justice Committee gave bipartisan approval to a Senate-passed bill to make assaulting emergency department personnel acting in the line of duty a felony.

“We have a hard enough time recruiting doctors and nurses,” said state Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield. “We’re going to continue to have a worse time the more we leave them hanging out to dry when they’re injured in a place that they should be going to help people.”

Some Democrats voted against the legislation. They said they plan to bring forward a floor amendment to carve out exceptions ensuring certain people could not be charged under the new, tougher law.

>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go <<

“Somebody who has a dementia diagnosis, who has intellectual or developmental disabilities which affect their ability to communicate, somebody who’s having a mental health crisis, who has a mental health diagnosis, they would be arrested,” said state Rep. Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth.

Other lawmakers said they’re skeptical such people would face criminal charges in the first place.

“I have 25 years in health care, and a lot of that was actually as a dementia specialist,” said state Rep. Kathleen Paquette, R-Manchester. “I can assure you that nobody’s calling the police because someone’s grandma with dementia kicked them because she was scared. I mean, nobody’s doing that.”

Lawmakers who work in health care said the hypothetical concerns raised about dementia patients are being put forward in an effort to defeat the bill, just as they were when similar legal protections were proposed for paramedics.

“And if you think that EMS nurses, doctors or any of those people are going to press charges against somebody that has dementia or mental health issues, you are sadly mistaken,” said state Rep. Mark Proulx, R-Manchester.