Florida Senate - 2022                                     SB 900
       
       
        
       By Senator Brodeur
       
       
       
       
       
       9-00738A-22                                            2022900__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to unidentified persons in hospitals;
    3         creating s. 395.1013, F.S.; requiring hospitals to
    4         maintain a directory of unidentified persons
    5         containing specified information; requiring hospitals
    6         to make the directory available to the public upon
    7         request; requiring hospitals, before including an
    8         unidentified person in the directory, to inform the
    9         unidentified person of the directory and provide him
   10         or her with an opportunity to restrict or prohibit
   11         inclusion in the directory or disclosure of his or her
   12         personal identifying information; providing an
   13         exception for a specified timeframe; providing an
   14         effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Section 395.1013, Florida Statutes, is created
   19  to read:
   20         395.1013 Unidentified persons.—
   21         (1) Each hospital shall maintain a directory of all
   22  unidentified persons being treated at the hospital which must be
   23  made available to the public upon request. The directory must
   24  include all of the following details for each unidentified
   25  person:
   26         (a) The location in the hospital where the unidentified
   27  person is admitted or being treated.
   28         (b) The type of injury suffered by the unidentified person.
   29         (c) A description of the unidentified person’s condition,
   30  using general terms that do not disclose specific medical
   31  information about the person.
   32         (d) A description of distinguishing physical
   33  characteristics of the unidentified person, including height,
   34  weight, gender, race, hair and eye color, and any facial hair,
   35  scars, and tattoos.
   36         (2) Before entering any information into the directory, a
   37  hospital shall first inform the unidentified person that his or
   38  her personal identifying information will be included in the
   39  directory and may be disclosed to the public upon request. The
   40  hospital shall provide the unidentified person with the
   41  opportunity to restrict or prohibit the inclusion in the
   42  directory of any of the information specified in subsection (1)
   43  or the disclosure of such information. If an unidentified person
   44  cannot reasonably be informed of inclusion in the directory due
   45  to the person’s incapacitation or emergency treatment protocols,
   46  the hospital must include the unidentified person in the
   47  directory until the unidentified person is no longer
   48  incapacitated or the emergency has subsided, at which point the
   49  hospital must inform the unidentified person of his or her
   50  inclusion in the directory and the option to restrict or
   51  prohibit continued inclusion or the disclosure of his or her
   52  personal identifying information.
   53         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.