HB 0321

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

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

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