BILL NUMBER: AB 83	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 5, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Feuer
    (   Principal coauthor:   Senator 
 Benoit   ) 

                        DECEMBER 23, 2008

   An act  to amend Section 1799.102 of the Health and Safety
Code,   relating to personal liability.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 83, as amended, Feuer. Torts: personal liability immunity.
   Existing law provides that any person who in good faith, and not
for compensation, renders emergency medical care at the scene of an
emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from
any act or omission. 
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to review the
civil liability immunity of people who provide emergency care.
 
   This bill would instead provide that medical, law enforcement, and
emergency personnel who in good faith, and not for compensation,
render emergency medical care at the scene of an emergency shall not
be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission.
 
   This bill would also provide that any person, not including
medical, law enforcement, and emergency personnel, who in good faith,
and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical
care or assistance at the scene of an emergency shall not be liable
for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission, as long as
that act or omission does not constitute gross negligence or willful
or wanton misconduct. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 1799.102 of the  
Health and Safety Code   is amended to read: 
   1799.102.   (a)    No person who in good faith,
and not for compensation, renders emergency care at the scene of an
emergency shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from any
act or omission. The scene of an emergency shall not include
emergency departments and other places where medical care is usually
offered.  This subdivision applies only to the medical, law
enforcement, and emergency personnel specified in this chapter. 

   (b) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage other
individuals to volunteer, without compensation, to assist others in
need during an emergency, while ensuring that those volunteers who
provide care or assistance act responsibly.  
   (2) Except for those persons specified in subdivision (a), no
person who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency
medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an
emergency shall be liable for civil damages resulting from any act or
omission other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence
or willful or wanton misconduct. The scene of an emergency shall not
include emergency departments and other places where medical care is
usually offered. This subdivision shall not be construed to alter
existing protections from liability for licensed medical or other
personnel specified in subdivision (a) or any other law.  
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter any
existing legal duties or obligations. The amendments to this section
made by the act adding this subdivision shall apply exclusively to
any legal action filed on or after January 1, 2010.  
  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature,
in light of the California Supreme Court's holding in Van Horn v.
Watson, to examine the extent to which a person who renders
assistance to another person in an emergency shall be immune from
liability arising out of that assistance.