HB 1441

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Good Samaritan Act; amending s.
3	768.13, F.S.; providing immunity from civil liability for
4	a person who participates in the emergency response
5	activities of a community emergency response team if that
6	person acts prudently and within the scope of his or her
7	training; providing an effective date.
8
9	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11	Section 1.  Subsection (2) of section 768.13, Florida
12	Statutes, is amended to read:
13	768.13  Good Samaritan Act; immunity from civil
14	liability.--
15	(2)(a)  Any person, including those licensed to practice
16	medicine, who gratuitously and in good faith renders emergency
17	care or treatment either in direct response to emergency
18	situations related to and arising out of a public health
19	emergency declared pursuant to s. 381.00315, a state of
20	emergency which has been declared pursuant to s. 252.36 or at
21	the scene of an emergency outside of a hospital, doctor's
22	office, or other place having proper medical equipment, without
23	objection of the injured victim or victims thereof, shall not be
24	held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or
25	treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in
26	providing or arranging further medical treatment where the
27	person acts as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have
28	acted under the same or similar circumstances.
29	(b)1.  Any health care provider, including a hospital
30	licensed under chapter 395, providing emergency services
31	pursuant to obligations imposed by 42 U.S.C. s. 1395dd, s.
32	395.1041, s. 395.401, or s. 401.45 shall not be held liable for
33	any civil damages as a result of such medical care or treatment
34	unless such damages result from providing, or failing to
35	provide, medical care or treatment under circumstances
36	demonstrating a reckless disregard for the consequences so as to
37	affect the life or health of another.
38	2.  The immunity provided by this paragraph applies to
39	damages as a result of any act or omission of providing medical
40	care or treatment, including diagnosis:
41	a.  Which occurs prior to the time the patient is
42	stabilized and is capable of receiving medical treatment as a
43	nonemergency patient, unless surgery is required as a result of
44	the emergency within a reasonable time after the patient is
45	stabilized, in which case the immunity provided by this
46	paragraph applies to any act or omission of providing medical
47	care or treatment which occurs prior to the stabilization of the
48	patient following the surgery.
49	b.  Which is related to the original medical emergency.
50	3.  For purposes of this paragraph, "reckless disregard" as
51	it applies to a given health care provider rendering emergency
52	medical services shall be such conduct that a health care
53	provider knew or should have known, at the time such services
54	were rendered, created an unreasonable risk of injury so as to
55	affect the life or health of another, and such risk was
56	substantially greater than that which is necessary to make the
57	conduct negligent.
58	4.  Every emergency care facility granted immunity under
59	this paragraph shall accept and treat all emergency care
60	patients within the operational capacity of such facility
61	without regard to ability to pay, including patients transferred
62	from another emergency care facility or other health care
63	provider pursuant to Pub. L. No. 99-272, s. 9121. The failure of
64	an emergency care facility to comply with this subparagraph
65	constitutes grounds for the department to initiate disciplinary
66	action against the facility pursuant to chapter 395.
67	(c)1.  Any health care practitioner as defined in s.
68	456.001(4) who is in a hospital attending to a patient of his or
69	her practice or for business or personal reasons unrelated to
70	direct patient care, and who voluntarily responds to provide
71	care or treatment to a patient with whom at that time the
72	practitioner does not have a then-existing health care patient-
73	practitioner relationship, and when such care or treatment is
74	necessitated by a sudden or unexpected situation or by an
75	occurrence that demands immediate medical attention, shall not
76	be held liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or
77	omission relative to that care or treatment, unless that care or
78	treatment is proven to amount to conduct that is willful and
79	wanton and would likely result in injury so as to affect the
80	life or health of another.
81	2.  The immunity provided by this paragraph does not apply
82	to damages as a result of any act or omission of providing
83	medical care or treatment unrelated to the original situation
84	that demanded immediate medical attention.
85	3.  For purposes of this paragraph, the Legislature's
86	intent is to encourage health care practitioners to provide
87	necessary emergency care to all persons without fear of
88	litigation as described in this paragraph.
89	(d)  Any person whose acts or omissions are not otherwise
90	covered by this section and who participates in the emergency
91	response activities of a community emergency response team is
92	not liable for civil damages as a result of care, treatment, or
93	services provided in such capacity or as a result of any act or
94	failure to act in such capacity in providing or arranging
95	further care, treatment, or services, if such person acts within
96	the scope of his or her training and acts as a reasonably
97	prudent person would have acted under the same or similar
98	circumstances.
99	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.