Education, not legislation, will give emergency workers and Good Samaritans peace of mind about their own health when helping strangers, says the director of the Yukon's HIV/AIDS support centre.

"It's a false peace of mind," Patricia Bacon said last week after reviewing the Draft Mandatory Testing and Disclosure Act, released by the Justice Department.

The act would give a judge the power to order blood tests and medical records from an individual who had come into contact with another's bodily fluids under certain circumstance; in the line of duty, while giving emergency medical assistance, as the result of being a victim of a crime of "while performing any other prescribed function."

The act has been lauded by emergency personnel across the territory as a positive step toward protecting paramedics, police and others from becoming infected with HIV, Hepatitis and other illnesses while on the job.

"The bottom line is, we're always looking at these important initiatives that are aimed at keeping (emergency personnel) safe and keeping their families safe," said Susan Skaalid, the Yukon's director of emergency services.

"Anything that helps secure peace of mind is a positive."

Bacon says the act may give people peace of mind; but that peace is flimsy at best, and dangerous at worst.

"What we should be doing is educating people and putting in place universal precautions" such as always using latex gloves when there is a chance of coming into contact with another person's bodily fluids, she said.

Those precautions are already in place for emergency personnel, who are trained to understand the risks they encounter in the line of duty and how to reduce them.

Passing this act, she said, may actually discourage people from helping a stranger in need by giving them an exaggerated sense of risk.

"The actual risk is exceedingly low," Bacon said, citing chief medical officer Brendan Hanley's comment last week that the chances of being infected after being stabbed by a dirty needle are one in 300.

"And that's the riskiest situation there is," she said. "People shouldn't think that helping someone out will put them at risk."

As an advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS, Bacon sees some major flaws in the language of the act as well.

The act states that the results of the court ordered test will be sent to "the applicant and the applicant's medical practioner."

"So no matter what the results, I will get a copy of your medical records," Bacon said.

"And there's nothing to stop me from telling my hairdresser or the guy on the barstool next to me what they say. Imagine what that would do to a person's life if all of a sudden everyone knows you are HIV-positive. It doesn't matter how responsible you are, you will be stigmatized."

Bacon said that at the very least, she wants to see the Yukon's legislators look closely at who will be privy to the information coming from the tests, and consider the rights of everyone, not just the applicant.

"You have a human right to privacy," she said. "That needs to be protected."

Last week, Dan Cable, a spokesman for the Justice department, said the act is commonly known as the Good Samaritan Act.

It is not to be confused with the Good Samaritan Act in British Columbia and other jurisdictions, which gives citizens protection from being sued by someone to whom they give emergency first aid.

He said the act, which was first suggested by former Liberal premier Pat Duncan in 2005, will be tabled in the legislature in February.