HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 Representative(s) Byrd offered the following:
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13 Substitute Amendment for Amendment (571015) (with title
14 amendment)
15 Remove from the bill: Everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert in lieu thereof:
18 Section 1. Section 768.1325, Florida Statutes, is
19 created to read:
20 768.1325 Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; immunity from
21 civil liability.--
22 (1) This section may be cited as the "Cardiac Arrest
23 Survival Act."
24 (2) As used in this section:
25 (a) "Perceived medical emergency" means circumstances
26 in which the behavior of an individual leads a reasonable
27 person to believe that the individual is experiencing a
28 life-threatening medical condition that requires an immediate
29 medical response regarding the heart or other cardiopulmonary
30 functioning of the individual.
31 (b) "Automated external defibrillator device" means a
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 defibrillator device that:
2 1. Is commercially distributed in accordance with the
3 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
4 2. Is capable of recognizing the presence or absence
5 of ventricular fibrillation, and is capable of determining
6 without intervention by the user of the device whether
7 defibrillation should be performed.
8 3. Upon determining that defibrillation should be
9 performed, is able to deliver an electrical shock to an
10 individual.
11 (c) "Harm" means damage or loss of any and all types,
12 including, but not limited to, physical, nonphysical,
13 economic, noneconomic, actual, compensatory, consequential,
14 incidental, and punitive damages or losses.
15 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
16 contrary, and except as provided in subsection (4), any person
17 who uses or attempts to use an automated external
18 defibrillator device on a victim of a perceived medical
19 emergency, without objection of the victim of the perceived
20 medical emergency, is immune from civil liability for any harm
21 resulting from the use or attempted use of such device. In
22 addition, any person who acquired the device is immune from
23 such liability, if the harm was not due to the failure of such
24 acquirer of the device to:
25 (a) Notify the local emergency medical services
26 medical director of the most recent placement of the device
27 within a reasonable period of time after the device was
28 placed;
29 (b) Properly maintain and test the device; or
30 (c) Provide appropriate training in the use of the
31 device to an employee or agent of the acquirer when the
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 employee or agent was the person who used the device on the
2 victim, except that such requirement of training does not
3 apply if:
4 1. The employee or agent was not an employee or agent
5 who would have been reasonably expected to use the device; or
6 2. The period of time elapsing between the engagement
7 of the person as an employee or agent and the occurrence of
8 the harm, or between the acquisition of the device and the
9 occurrence of the harm in any case in which the device was
10 acquired after engagement of the employee or agent, was not a
11 reasonably sufficient period in which to provide the training.
12 (4) Immunity under subsection (3) does not apply to a
13 person if:
14 (a) The harm involved was caused by that person's
15 willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless
16 disregard or misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference
17 to the rights or safety of the victim who was harmed;
18 (b) The person is a licensed or certified health
19 professional who used the automated external defibrillator
20 device while acting within the scope of the license or
21 certification of the professional and within the scope of the
22 employment or agency of the professional;
23 (c) The person is a hospital, clinic, or other entity
24 whose primary purpose is providing health care directly to
25 patients, and the harm was caused by an employee or agent of
26 the entity who used the device while acting within the scope
27 of the employment or agency of the employee or agent;
28 (d) The person is an acquirer of the device who leased
29 the device to a health care entity, or who otherwise provided
30 the device to such entity for compensation without selling the
31 device to the entity, and the harm was caused by an employee
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 or agent of the entity who used the device while acting within
2 the scope of the employment or agency of the employee or
3 agent; or
4 (e) The person is the manufacturer of the device.
5 (5) This section does not establish any cause of
6 action. This section does not require that an automated
7 external defibrillator device be placed at any building or
8 other location or require an acquirer to make available on its
9 premises one or more employees or agents trained in the use of
10 the device.
11 Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 768.13, Florida
12 Statutes, is repealed.
13 Section 3. Section 401.2915, Florida Statutes, is
14 amended to read:
15 401.2915 Automated Automatic external
16 defibrillators.--It is the intent of the Legislature that an
17 automated automatic external defibrillator may be used by any
18 person for the purpose of saving the life of another person in
19 cardiac arrest. In order to ensure public health and safety:
20 (1) All persons who have access to or use an automated
21 automatic external defibrillator must obtain appropriate
22 training, to include completion of a course in cardiopulmonary
23 resuscitation or successful completion of a basic first aid
24 course that includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation training,
25 and demonstrated proficiency in the use of an automated
26 automatic external defibrillator;
27 (2) Any person or entity in possession of an automated
28 automatic external defibrillator is encouraged to register
29 with the local emergency medical services medical director the
30 existence and location of the automated automatic external
31 defibrillator; and
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 (3) Any person who uses an automated automatic
2 external defibrillator is required to activate the emergency
3 medical services system as soon as possible upon use of the
4 automated automatic external defibrillator.
5 Section 4. No later than January 1, 2003, the
6 Secretary of the Department of Health shall adopt rules to
7 establish guidelines on the appropriate placement of automated
8 external defibrillator devices in buildings or portions of
9 buildings owned or leased by the state, and shall establish,
10 by rule, recommendations on procedures for the deployment of
11 automated external defibrillator devices in such buildings in
12 accordance with the guidelines. The Secretary of the
13 Department of Management Services shall assist the Secretary
14 of the Department of Health in the development of the
15 guidelines. The guidelines for the placement of the automated
16 external defibrillators shall take into account the typical
17 number of employees and visitors in the buildings, the extent
18 of the need for security measures regarding the buildings,
19 special circumstances in buildings or portions of buildings
20 such as high electrical voltages or extreme heat or cold, and
21 such other factors as the Secretaries determine to be
22 appropriate. The Secretary of the Department of Health's
23 recommendations for deployment of automated external
24 defibrillators in buildings or portions of buildings owned or
25 leased by the state shall include:
26 (a) A reference list of appropriate training courses
27 in the use of such devices, including the role of
28 cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
29 (b) The extent to which such devices may be used by
30 laypersons;
31 (c) Manufacturer recommended maintenance and testing
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 of the devices; and
2 (d) Coordination with local emergency medical services
3 systems regarding the incidents of use of the devices.
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5 In formulating these guidelines and recommendations, the
6 Secretary may consult with all appropriate public and private
7 entities, including national and local public health
8 organizations that seek to improve the survival rates of
9 individuals who experience cardiac arrest.
10 Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2001.
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13 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
14 And the title is amended as follows:
15 remove from the title of the bill: the entire title
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17 and insert in lieu thereof:
18 An act relating to automated external
19 defibrillators; creating s. 768.1325, F.S.;
20 creating the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act;
21 providing definitions; providing immunity from
22 liability for certain persons who use automated
23 external defibrillators under certain
24 circumstances; providing exceptions; repealing
25 s. 768.13(4), F.S., relating to the Good
26 Samaritan Act, to delete reference to the use
27 of an automatic external defibrillator in
28 certain emergency situations; amending s.
29 401.2915, F.S.; revising a provision of law
30 relating to automatic external defibrillators
31 to conform to the act; directing the Department
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 of Health, with assistance from the Department
2 of Management Services, to adopt rules to
3 establish guidelines on the appropriate
4 placement and deployment of automated external
5 defibrillator devices in certain buildings
6 owned or leased by the state; specifying
7 factors to be considered in device placement
8 and deployment; providing an effective date.
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10 WHEREAS, over 700 lives are lost every day to sudden
11 cardiac arrest in the United States alone, and
12 WHEREAS, two out of every three sudden cardiac deaths
13 occur before a victim can reach a hospital, and
14 WHEREAS, more than 95 percent of these cardiac arrest
15 victims will die, many because of lack of readily available
16 lifesaving medical equipment, and
17 WHEREAS, with current medical technology, up to 30
18 percent of cardiac arrest victims could be saved if victims
19 had access to immediate medical response, including
20 defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and
21 WHEREAS, once a victim has suffered a cardiac arrest,
22 every minute that passes before returning the heart to a
23 normal rhythm decreases the chances of survival by 10 percent,
24 and
25 WHEREAS, most cardiac arrests are caused by an abnormal
26 heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation, which occurs
27 when the heart's electrical system malfunctions, causing a
28 chaotic rhythm that prevents the heart from pumping oxygen to
29 the victim's brain and body, and
30 WHEREAS, communities that have implemented programs
31 ensuring widespread access to defibrillators, combined with
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HOUSE AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 1429
Amendment No. ___ (for drafter's use only)
1 appropriate training, maintenance, and coordination with local
2 emergency medical systems have dramatically improved the
3 survival rates from cardiac arrest, and
4 WHEREAS, automated external defibrillator devices have
5 been demonstrated to be safe and effective, even when used by
6 laypersons, since the devices are designed not to allow a user
7 to administer a shock until after the device has analyzed a
8 victim's heart rhythm and determined that an electric shock is
9 required, and
10 WHEREAS, increased public awareness regarding automated
11 external defibrillator devices will greatly facilitate their
12 adoption, and
13 WHEREAS, limiting the liability of users and acquirers
14 of automated external defibrillator devices in emergency
15 situations may encourage the use of the devices, and result in
16 saved lives, NOW, THEREFORE,
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