Shoreline Community College (SCC) is working with the King County Sheriff’s Department to train officers in phlebotomy–the practice of safely drawing blood from a person’s veins to to assist in medical diagnoses and, in this case, impaired driving investigations.

The initiative is being led by Captain Johnathan Youngblood and Professor Esther Lim Hinton, SCC’s Medical Laboratory Director, who now also oversees the Phlebotomy Program. Together, they are working to train officers in performing blood draws safely and effectively.

In an arc Seattle interview, Youngblood explained the motivation behind the training: “More people are refusing [to take a blood draw]; more people under the influence of [substances] other than alchohal.To take someone to a hospital to get these blood draws takes up a substantial amount of time for our deputies.”

According to a Shoreline Area News article published April 1st, there are plans to install phlebotomy stations at six precincts: Sammamish, SeaTac, Shoreline, Southeast, Southwest, and Woodinville. This wide coverage and the training in phlebotomy will allow officers to spend more of their time patrolling the streets rather than dealing with individual impaired drivers.

Later in the interview, when asked what would happen to drivers who refused both on-site breath tests and phlebotomies, the captain clarified: “The sheriff’s office will not be using force on anyone to draw blood by any means.”

If a suspect who is believed to be driving under the influence is unwilling to take a breath test or have phlebotomy work done by a trained officer, they will be taken to a medical facility where the procedure is done by licensed professionals—not law enforcement.

The Phlebotomy Technician Program is an 11-week, 10-credit course that certifies students to safely perform and process blood work. In the final three weeks, students gain firsthand experience by participating at local clinics.