(2)(a) Any person, including those licensed to practice medicine, who gratuitously and in good faith renders emergency care or treatment either in direct response to emergency situations related to and arising out of a public health emergency declared pursuant to s. 381.00315, a state of emergency which has been declared pursuant to s. 252.36 or at the scene of an emergency outside of a hospital, doctor’s office, or other place having proper medical equipment, without objection of the injured victim or victims thereof, shall not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in providing or arranging further medical treatment where the person acts as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted under the same or similar circumstances.
(b)1. Any
health care provider, including a hospital
licensed under chapter 395, providing emergency
services pursuant to obligations imposed by 42
U.S.C. s. 1395dd, s.
395.1041, s.
395.401, or s.
401.45 shall not be held liable for any
civil damages as a result of such medical care
or treatment unless such damages result from
providing, or failing to provide, medical care
or treatment under circumstances demonstrating a
reckless disregard for the consequences so as to
affect the life or health of another.
2. The
immunity provided by this paragraph applies to
damages as a result of any act or omission of
providing medical care or treatment, including
diagnosis:
a. Which
occurs prior to the time the patient is
stabilized and is capable of receiving
medical treatment as a nonemergency patient,
unless surgery is required as a result of
the emergency within a reasonable time after
the patient is stabilized, in which case the
immunity provided by this paragraph applies
to any act or omission of providing medical
care or treatment which occurs prior to the
stabilization of the patient following the
surgery.
b. Which
is related to the original medical
emergency.
3. For
purposes of this paragraph, “reckless disregard”
as it applies to a given health care provider
rendering emergency medical services shall be
such conduct that a health care provider knew or
should have known, at the time such services
were rendered, created an unreasonable risk of
injury so as to affect the life or health of
another, and such risk was substantially greater
than that which is necessary to make the conduct
negligent.
4. Every
emergency care facility granted immunity under
this paragraph shall accept and treat all
emergency care patients within the operational
capacity of such facility without regard to
ability to pay, including patients transferred
from another emergency care facility or other
health care provider pursuant to Pub. L. No.
99-272, s. 9121. The failure of an emergency
care facility to comply with this subparagraph
constitutes grounds for the department to
initiate disciplinary action against the
facility pursuant to chapter 395.
(c)1. Any
health care practitioner as defined in s.
456.001(4) who is in a hospital attending to
a patient of his or her practice or for business
or personal reasons unrelated to direct patient
care, and who voluntarily responds to provide
care or treatment to a patient with whom at that
time the practitioner does not have a
then-existing health care patient-practitioner
relationship, and when such care or treatment is
necessitated by a sudden or unexpected situation
or by an occurrence that demands immediate
medical attention, shall not be held liable for
any civil damages as a result of any act or
omission relative to that care or treatment,
unless that care or treatment is proven to
amount to conduct that is willful and wanton and
would likely result in injury so as to affect
the life or health of another.
2. The
immunity provided by this paragraph does not
apply to damages as a result of any act or
omission of providing medical care or treatment
unrelated to the original situation that
demanded immediate medical attention.
3. For
purposes of this paragraph, the Legislature’s
intent is to encourage health care practitioners
to provide necessary emergency care to all
persons without fear of litigation as described
in this paragraph.
(d) Any
person whose acts or omissions are not otherwise
covered by this section and who participates in
emergency response activities under the direction of
or in connection with a community emergency response
team, local emergency management agencies, the
Division of Emergency Management, or the Federal
Emergency Management Agency is not liable for any
civil damages as a result of care, treatment, or
services provided gratuitously in such capacity and
resulting from any act or failure to act in such
capacity in providing or arranging further care,
treatment, or services, if such person acts as a
reasonably prudent person would have acted under the
same or similar circumstances.
(3) Any
person, including those licensed to practice veterinary
medicine, who gratuitously and in good faith renders
emergency care or treatment to an injured animal at the
scene of an emergency on or adjacent to a roadway shall
not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of
such care or treatment or as a result of any act or
failure to act in providing or arranging further medical
treatment where the person acts as an ordinary
reasonably prudent person would have acted under the
same or similar circumstances.
History.—ss.
1, 2, ch. 65-313; s. 1, ch. 78-334; s. 62, ch. 86-160;
s. 46, ch. 88-1; s. 4, ch. 88-173; s. 42, ch. 88-277; s.
1, ch. 89-71; s. 37, ch. 91-110; s. 33, ch. 93-211; s.
3, ch. 97-34; s. 1164, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 2001-76; s.
3, ch. 2002-269; s. 65, ch. 2003-416; s. 1, ch. 2004-45;
s. 441, ch. 2011-142.
