HB 0321 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to immunity from civil liability; amending
3	s. 768.13, F.S.; revising the standard for immunity from
4	liability for persons gratuitously and in good faith
5	rendering emergency care or treatment; amending s.
6	768.1355, F.S.; providing absolute immunity for certain
7	acts by emergency management volunteers; amending s.
8	401.45, F.S.; providing immunity to certain emergency care
9	providers who withhold or withdraw resuscitation from a
10	patient; deleting the requirement that immunity is
11	dependent upon the person's acting under the direction of
12	a medical director; providing an effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1. Section 768.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to
17	read:
18	768.13 Good Samaritan Act; immunity from civil
19	liability.--
20	(1) This section actshall be known and cited as the "Good
21	Samaritan Act."
22	(2)(a) Any natural person, including one thoselicensed to
23	practice medicine, who gratuitously and in good faith renders
24	emergency care or treatment either in direct response to
25	emergency situations related to and arising out of a public
26	health emergency declared pursuant to s. 381.00315 or,a state
27	of emergency which has been declared pursuant to s. 252.36,or
28	at the scene of an emergency outside of a hospital, doctor's
29	office, or other place having proper medical equipment, without
30	objection of the injured victim or victims thereof, shall not be
31	held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or
32	treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in
33	providing or arranging further medical treatment, unless such
34	person acts in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a
35	manner exhibiting wanton and willful misconduct where the person
36	acts as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted
37	under the same or similar circumstances.
38	(b)1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a),any
39	health care provider, including a hospital licensed under
40	chapter 395, providing emergency services pursuant to
41	obligations imposed by 42 U.S.C. s. 1395dd, s. 395.1041, s.
42	395.401, or s. 401.45 shall not be held liable for any civil
43	damages as a result of such medical care or treatment unless
44	such damages result from providing, or failing to provide,
45	medical care or treatment under circumstances demonstrating a
46	reckless disregard for the consequences so as to affect the life
47	or health of another.
48	2. The immunity provided by this paragraph applies to
49	damages as a result of any act or omission of providing medical
50	care or treatment, including diagnosis:
51	a. Which occurs prior to the time the patient is
52	stabilized and is capable of receiving medical treatment as a
53	nonemergency patient, unless surgery is required as a result of
54	the emergency within a reasonable time after the patient is
55	stabilized, in which case the immunity provided by this
56	paragraph applies to any act or omission of providing medical
57	care or treatment which occurs prior to the stabilization of the
58	patient following the surgery.
59	b. Which is related to the original medical emergency.
60	3. For purposes of this paragraph, "reckless disregard" as
61	it applies to a given health care provider rendering emergency
62	medical services shall be such conduct that a health care
63	provider knew or should have known, at the time such services
64	were rendered, created an unreasonable risk of injury so as to
65	affect the life or health of another, and such risk was
66	substantially greater than that which is necessary to make the
67	conduct negligent.
68	4. Every emergency care facility granted immunity under
69	this paragraph shall accept and treat all emergency care
70	patients within the operational capacity of such facility
71	without regard to ability to pay, including patients transferred
72	from another emergency care facility or other health care
73	provider pursuant to Pub. L. No. 99-272, s. 9121. The failure of
74	an emergency care facility to comply with this subparagraph
75	constitutes grounds for the department to initiate disciplinary
76	action against the facility pursuant to chapter 395.
77	(c)1. Any health care practitioner as defined in s.
78	456.001(4) who is in a hospital attending to a patient of his or
79	her practice or for business or personal reasons unrelated to
80	direct patient care, and who voluntarily responds to provide
81	care or treatment to a patient with whom at that time the
82	practitioner does not have a then-existing health care patient-
83	practitioner relationship, and when such care or treatment is
84	necessitated by a sudden or unexpected situation or by an
85	occurrence that demands immediate medical attention, shall not
86	be held liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or
87	omission relative to that care or treatment, unless that care or
88	treatment is proven to amount to conduct that is willful and
89	wanton and would likely result in injury so as to affect the
90	life or health of another.
91	2. The immunity provided by this paragraph does not apply
92	to damages as a result of any act or omission of providing
93	medical care or treatment unrelated to the original situation
94	that demanded immediate medical attention.
95	3. For purposes of this paragraph, the Legislature's
96	intent is to encourage health care practitioners to provide
97	necessary emergency care to all persons without fear of
98	litigation as described in this paragraph.
99	(3) Any natural person, including one thoselicensed to
100	practice veterinary medicine, who gratuitously and in good faith
101	renders emergency care or treatment to an injured animal at the
102	scene of an emergency on or adjacent to a roadway shall not be
103	held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or
104	treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in
105	providing or arranging further medical treatment, unless such
106	person acts in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a
107	manner exhibiting wanton and willful misconduct where the person
108	acts as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted
109	under the same or similar circumstances.
110	Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 768.1355, Florida
111	Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (5), and a new subsection
112	(4) is added to said section to read:
113	768.1355 Florida Volunteer Protection Act.--
114	(4) An emergency management volunteer who is carrying out
115	his or her duties is not liable for damages for any death or
116	injury resulting from the performance of such duties.
117	Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 401.45, Florida
118	Statutes, is amended to read:
119	401.45 Denial of emergency treatment; civil liability.--
120	(3)(a) Resuscitation may be withheld or withdrawn from a
121	patient by an emergency care provider medical technician or
122	paramedicif evidence of an order not to resuscitate by the
123	patient's physician is presented to the emergency care provider
124	medical technician or paramedic. An order not to resuscitate, to
125	be valid, must be on the form adopted by rule of the department.
126	The form must be signed by the patient's physician and by the
127	patient or, if the patient is incapacitated, the patient's
128	health care surrogate or proxy as provided in chapter 765,
129	court-appointed guardian as provided in chapter 744, or attorney
130	in fact under a durable power of attorney as provided in chapter
131	709. The court-appointed guardian or attorney in fact must have
132	been delegated authority to make health care decisions on behalf
133	of the patient.
134	(b) Any licensee, physician, medical director, or
135	emergency care provider medical technician or paramedic who acts
136	under the direction of a medical directoris not subject to
137	criminal prosecution or civil liability, and has not engaged in
138	negligent or unprofessional conduct, as a result of the
139	withholding or withdrawal of resuscitation from a patient
140	pursuant to this subsection and rules adopted by the department.
141	(c) The department, in consultation with the Department of
142	Elderly Affairs and the Agency for Health Care Administration,
143	shall develop a standardized do-not-resuscitate identification
144	system with devices that signify, when carried or worn, that the
145	possessor is a patient for whom a physician has issued an order
146	not to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The department
147	may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of producing and
148	distributing such identification devices. Use of such devices
149	shall be voluntary.
150	Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.