Florida Senate - 2013                              CS for SB 284
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
       Domestic Security; and Senator Negron
       
       
       
       583-02830-13                                           2013284c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to school emergencies; amending s.
    3         1006.07, F.S.; requiring district school board
    4         policies to list the emergency response agencies that
    5         are responsible for notifying the school district of
    6         emergencies; amending s. 1002.20, F.S.; authorizing a
    7         public school to purchase and maintain a supply of
    8         epinephrine auto-injectors; requiring that the school
    9         district adopt a protocol developed by a licensed
   10         physician for the administration of epinephrine auto
   11         injectors for emergency use when a student is having
   12         an anaphylactic reaction; providing that the supply of
   13         epinephrine auto-injectors may be provided to and used
   14         by a student authorized to self-administer epinephrine
   15         by auto-injector or trained school personnel;
   16         providing that a school district and its employees and
   17         agents, including a physician providing a standing
   18         protocol for school epinephrine auto-injectors, are
   19         not liable for an injury to a student arising from the
   20         use of an epinephrine auto-injector under certain
   21         circumstances; amending s. 1002.42, F.S.; requiring
   22         the emergency response agencies to notify private
   23         schools in the school district of emergencies under
   24         certain circumstances; authorizing a private school to
   25         purchase and maintain a supply of epinephrine auto
   26         injectors; requiring that the private school adopt a
   27         protocol developed by a licensed physician for the
   28         administration of epinephrine auto-injectors for
   29         emergency use when a student is having an anaphylactic
   30         reaction; providing that the supply of epinephrine
   31         auto-injectors may be provided to and used by a
   32         student authorized to self-administer epinephrine by
   33         auto-injector or trained school personnel; providing
   34         that a private school and its employees and agents,
   35         including a physician providing a standing protocol
   36         for school epinephrine auto-injectors, are not liable
   37         for an injury to a student arising from the use of an
   38         epinephrine auto-injector under certain circumstances;
   39         providing an effective date.
   40  
   41  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 1006.07, Florida
   44  Statutes, is amended to read:
   45         1006.07 District school board duties relating to student
   46  discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall
   47  provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the
   48  attendance and control of students at school, and for proper
   49  attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the
   50  welfare of students, including:
   51         (4) EMERGENCY DRILLS; EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.—
   52         (a) Formulate and prescribe policies and procedures for
   53  emergency drills and for actual emergencies, including, but not
   54  limited to, fires, natural disasters, and bomb threats, for all
   55  the public schools of the district which comprise grades K-12.
   56  District school board policies shall include commonly used alarm
   57  system responses for specific types of emergencies and
   58  verification by each school that drills have been provided as
   59  required by law and fire protection codes. The emergency
   60  response agency that is responsible for notifying the school
   61  district for each type of emergency must be listed in the
   62  district’s emergency response policy.
   63         (b) The district school board shall Establish model
   64  emergency management and emergency preparedness procedures,
   65  including emergency notification procedures pursuant to
   66  paragraph (a), for the following life-threatening emergencies:
   67         1. Weapon-use and hostage situations.
   68         2. Hazardous materials or toxic chemical spills.
   69         3. Weather emergencies, including hurricanes, tornadoes,
   70  and severe storms.
   71         4. Exposure as a result of a manmade emergency.
   72         Section 2. Paragraph (i) of subsection (3) of section
   73  1002.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   74         1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public
   75  school students must receive accurate and timely information
   76  regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed
   77  of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12
   78  students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory
   79  rights including, but not limited to, the following:
   80         (3) HEALTH ISSUES.—
   81         (i) Epinephrine use and supply.—
   82         1. A student who has experienced or is at risk for life
   83  threatening allergic reactions may carry an epinephrine auto
   84  injector and self-administer epinephrine by auto-injector while
   85  in school, participating in school-sponsored activities, or in
   86  transit to or from school or school-sponsored activities if the
   87  school has been provided with parental and physician
   88  authorization. The State Board of Education, in cooperation with
   89  the Department of Health, shall adopt rules for such use of
   90  epinephrine auto-injectors that shall include provisions to
   91  protect the safety of all students from the misuse or abuse of
   92  auto-injectors. A school district, county health department,
   93  public-private partner, and their employees and volunteers shall
   94  be indemnified by the parent of a student authorized to carry an
   95  epinephrine auto-injector for any and all liability with respect
   96  to the student’s use of an epinephrine auto-injector pursuant to
   97  this paragraph.
   98         2. A public school may purchase from a wholesale
   99  distributor as defined in s. 499.003 and maintain in a locked,
  100  secure location on its premises a supply of epinephrine auto
  101  injectors for use if a student is having an anaphylactic
  102  reaction. The participating school district shall adopt a
  103  protocol developed by a licensed physician for the
  104  administration by school personnel who are trained to recognize
  105  an anaphylactic reaction and to administer an epinephrine auto
  106  injection. The supply of epinephrine auto-injectors may be
  107  provided to and used by a student authorized to self-administer
  108  epinephrine by auto-injector under subparagraph 1. or trained
  109  school personnel.
  110         3. The school district and its employees and agents,
  111  including the physician who provides the standing protocol for
  112  school epinephrine auto-injectors, are not liable for any injury
  113  arising from the use of an epinephrine auto-injector
  114  administered by trained school personnel who follow the adopted
  115  protocol and whose professional opinion is that the student is
  116  having an anaphylactic reaction:
  117         a. Unless the trained school personnel’s action is willful
  118  and wanton;
  119         b. Notwithstanding that the parents or guardians of the
  120  student to whom the epinephrine is administered have not been
  121  provided notice or have not signed a statement acknowledging
  122  that the school district is not liable; and
  123         c. Regardless of whether authorization has been given by
  124  the student’s parents or guardians or by the student’s
  125  physician, physician’s assistant, or advanced registered nurse
  126  practitioner.
  127         Section 3. Subsections (16) and (17) are added to section
  128  1002.42, Florida Statutes, to read:
  129         1002.42 Private schools.—
  130         (16) EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.—The emergency response agencies
  131  identified in a district school board’s emergency response
  132  policy pursuant to s. 1006.07(4) which are responsible for
  133  notifying the school district of an occurrence that threatens
  134  student safety shall also notify private schools in the district
  135  that request such notification by opting into the district
  136  school board’s emergency notification procedures.
  137         (17) EPINEPHRINE SUPPLY.—
  138         (a) A private school may purchase from a wholesale
  139  distributor as defined in s. 499.003 and maintain in a locked,
  140  secure location on its premises a supply of epinephrine auto
  141  injectors for use if a student is having an anaphylactic
  142  reaction. The participating private school shall adopt a
  143  protocol developed by a licensed physician for the
  144  administration by private school personnel who are trained to
  145  recognize an anaphylactic reaction and to administer an
  146  epinephrine auto-injection. The supply of epinephrine auto
  147  injectors may be provided to and used by a student authorized to
  148  self-administer epinephrine by auto-injector under s.
  149  1002.20(3)(i) or trained school personnel.
  150         (b) The private school and its employees and agents,
  151  including the physician who provides the standing protocol for
  152  school epinephrine auto-injectors, are not liable for any injury
  153  arising from the use of an epinephrine auto-injector
  154  administered by trained school personnel who follow the adopted
  155  protocol and whose professional opinion is that the student is
  156  having an anaphylactic reaction:
  157         1. Unless the trained school personnel’s action action is
  158  willful and wanton;
  159         2. Notwithstanding that the parents or guardians of the
  160  student to whom the epinephrine is administered have not been
  161  provided notice or have not signed a statement acknowledging
  162  that the school district is not liable; and
  163         3. Regardless of whether authorization has been given by
  164  the student’s parents or guardians or by the student’s
  165  physician, physician’s assistant, or advanced registered nurse
  166  practitioner.
  167         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.