HB 945

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to automated external defibrillators in
3	assisted living facilities; amending s. 429.255, F.S.;
4	requiring certain assisted living facilities to possess a
5	functioning automated external defibrillator; providing
6	for training in the use and maintenance of automated
7	external defibrillators and location registration;
8	providing immunity from liability under the Good Samaritan
9	Act and the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; requiring the
10	Department of Health to adopt rules relating to the use of
11	automated external defibrillators; providing an effective
12	date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1.  Section 429.255, Florida Statutes, is amended
17	to read:
18	429.255  Use of personnel; emergency care.-
19	(1)(a)  Persons under contract to the facility, facility
20	staff, or volunteers, who are licensed according to part I of
21	chapter 464, or those persons exempt under s. 464.022(1), and
22	others as defined by rule, may administer medications to
23	residents, take residents' vital signs, manage individual weekly
24	pill organizers for residents who self-administer medication,
25	give prepackaged enemas ordered by a physician, observe
26	residents, document observations on the appropriate resident's
27	record, report observations to the resident's physician, and
28	contract or allow residents or a resident's representative,
29	designee, surrogate, guardian, or attorney in fact to contract
30	with a third party, provided residents meet the criteria for
31	appropriate placement as defined in s. 429.26. Nursing
32	assistants certified pursuant to part II of chapter 464 may take
33	residents' vital signs as directed by a licensed nurse or
34	physician. Facility staff may use an automated external
35	defibrillator only if the staff member has received the training
36	required in subsection (4).
37	(b)  All staff in facilities licensed under this part shall
38	exercise their professional responsibility to observe residents,
39	to document observations on the appropriate resident's record,
40	and to report the observations to the resident's physician.
41	However, the owner or administrator of the facility shall be
42	responsible for determining that the resident receiving services
43	is appropriate for residence in the facility. The owner or
44	administrator of an assisted living facility with 17 or more
45	beds shall establish requirements for the use of automated
46	external defibrillators.
47	(c)  In an emergency situation, licensed personnel may
48	carry out their professional duties pursuant to part I of
49	chapter 464 until emergency medical personnel assume
50	responsibility for care.
51	(2)  In facilities licensed to provide extended congregate
52	care, persons under contract to the facility, facility staff, or
53	volunteers, who are licensed according to part I of chapter 464,
54	or those persons exempt under s. 464.022(1), or those persons
55	certified as nursing assistants pursuant to part II of chapter
56	464, may also perform all duties within the scope of their
57	license or certification, as approved by the facility
58	administrator and pursuant to this part.
59	(3)(a)  A assisted living facility with 17 or more beds
60	licensed under this part shall have on the premises at all times
61	a functioning automated external defibrillator as defined in s.
62	768.1325(2)(b).
63	(b)  Facility staff shall be trained in accordance with s.
64	401.2915.
65	(c)  The location of each automated external defibrillator
66	shall be registered with the local emergency medical services
67	medical director.
68	(d)  The use of automated external defibrillators by
69	facility staff shall be covered under the provisions of ss.
70	768.13 and 768.1325.
71	(4)(3)  Facility staff may withhold or withdraw
72	cardiopulmonary resuscitation or the use of an automated
73	external defibrillator if presented with an order not to
74	resuscitate executed pursuant to s. 401.45. The department shall
75	adopt rules providing for the implementation of such orders.
76	Facility staff and facilities shall not be subject to criminal
77	prosecution or civil liability, nor be considered to have
78	engaged in negligent or unprofessional conduct, for withholding
79	or withdrawing cardiopulmonary resuscitation or use of an
80	automated external defibrillator pursuant to such an order and
81	rules adopted by the department. The absence of an order to
82	resuscitate executed pursuant to s. 401.45 does not preclude a
83	physician from withholding or withdrawing cardiopulmonary
84	resuscitation or use of an automated external defibrillator as
85	otherwise permitted by law.
86	(5)  The Department of Health shall adopt rules to
87	implement the provisions of this section relating to use of an
88	automated external defibrillator.
89	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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