BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1436
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
SB 1436 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: May 8, 2012
PROPOSED CONSENT
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Automatic External Defibrillators (AED's): Sunset
removal
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD THE EXISTING QUALIFIED IMMUNITY AND TRAINING
AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS RELATED to the USE OF AEDs BE MADE
PERMANENT?
SYNOPSIS
Under existing law, which sunsets January 1, 2013, a person or
entity who acquires an automated external defibrillator (AED) is
not liable for any civil damages resulting from any acts or
omissions when the AED is used to render emergency care, so long
as the person or entity has complied with specified maintenance,
training, and notice requirements. This bill would delete the
approaching sunset date, thus making permanent the existing
qualified immunity, training and other requirements related to
the use of these lifesaving tools.
Proponents of this bill, including the American Heart
Association and the California Medical Association, note that
placing AEDs in buildings can and does save lives, and that
building owners should not be deterred from buying and
installing AEDs out of any fear of potential liability if the
AED is used or not used during a medical emergency. This bill
will encourage the continuing purchase and placement of AEDs in
public and private buildings by providing a permanent qualified
immunity to the building owner for the provision and use of an
AED. The bill is sponsored by the American Heart Association
and supported by emergency personnel organizations and building
and business property associations with no known opposition.
SUMMARY : Incentivizes facilities to obtain and make available
life-saving AEDs. Specifically, this bill makes permanent the
existing protections, which would otherwise sunset on January 1,
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2013, that provide general immunity from civil damages in
connection with the use of AEDs as long as specified
maintenance, training, and notice requirements are met.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for immunity from liability for any person who, in
good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency care
using an AED at the scene of an emergency. (Civil Code
Section 1714.21(b).)
2)Provides that a person or entity that acquires an AED for
emergency use is not liable for any civil damages resulting
from any acts or omissions when the AED is used to render
emergency care provided that the person or entity has complied
with the maintenance, training, and notice requirements
described in more detail below. (Civil Code Section
1714.21(d).)
3)Provides that the qualified immunity described above does not
apply in the case of personal injury or wrongful death that
results from the gross negligence or willful or wanton
misconduct of the person who uses the AED to render emergency
care. (Civil Code Section 1714.21(f).)
4)Until January 1, 2013, provides that any person or entity that
acquires an AED is not liable for any civil damages resulting
from any acts or omissions in the rendering of the emergency
care if that person or entity does all of the following:
a) Complies with all regulations governing the placement of
an AED;
b) Ensures all of the following:
i) the AED is maintained and regularly tested as
specified;
ii) the AED is checked for readiness after each use and
at least once every 30 days if it has not been used in
the preceding 30 days. Records of these checks must be
maintained;
iii) that any person who renders emergency care using the
AED activates the emergency medical services system as
soon as possible, and reports any use of the AED to the
licensed physician and to the local EMS agency;
iv) for every AED unit acquired up to five units, at
least one employee per unit must complete a training
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course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and AED use.
After the first five AED units are acquired, for each
additional five units acquired, one employee shall be
trained beginning with the first unit acquired.
Acquirers of AEDs must have trained employees who should
be available to respond to an emergency that may involve
the use of an AED during normal operating hours;
v) there is a written plan describing the procedures to
be followed in the event of an emergency that may involve
using an AED as specified.
c) Building owners must annually provide tenants with a
brochure describing the proper use of an AED as specified,
and also ensure that similar information is posted next to
any installed AED;
d) Building owners must notify tenants as to the location
of AED units in the building at least once a year; and
e) If an AED is placed in a public or private K-12 school,
the principal must annually provide school administrators
and staff with a brochure describing the proper use of an
AED, post similar information next to the AED, and
designate trained employees to be available to respond to
an emergency that may involve the use of an AED during
normal operating hours. (Health & Safety Code Section
1797.196(b).)
5)Until January 1, 2013, requires any person or entity that
supplies an AED shall: (1) notify an agent of the local EMS
agency of the existence, location, and type of AED acquired;
and (2) provide the AED acquirer with information regarding
the AED's use, installation, operation, training, and
maintenance. (Health & Safety Code Section 1797.196(c).)
6)Until January 1, 2013, provides that the qualified immunity
described above does not apply in the case of personal injury
or wrongful death that results from the gross negligence or
willful or wanton misconduct of the person who uses the AED to
render emergency care. (Health & Safety Code Section
1797.196(e).)
7)Until January 1, 2013, specifies that nothing in Health and
Safety Code Section 1797.196 or Civil Code Section 1714.21 may
be construed to require a building owner or a building manager
to acquire and install an AED in any building. (Health &
Safety Code Section 1797.196(f).)
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8)Provides that the above-described provisions sunset on January
1, 2013 and, after that date, are replaced by other provisions
that do not provide for immunity, but require maintenance of
the unit and training for expected AED users. (Health &
Safety Code Section 1797.196(g).)
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : In 1999, the Legislature passed and the Governor
signed SB 911 (Figueroa, Ch. 163, Stats. 1999) which created a
qualified immunity from civil liability for trained persons who
use AEDs in good faith and without compensation when rendering
emergency care or treatment at the scene of an emergency. The
bill also provided qualified immunity from liability for
building owners who installed AEDs as long as they ensured that
expected AED users completed a training course. AB 2041
(Vargas, Ch. 718, Stats. 2002) expanded this immunity by
repealing the training requirements for good faith users and
also relaxed the requirement that building owners must ensure
that expected users complete training as a condition of
immunity. AB 2041 was enacted with a five-year sunset which was
extended another five years to January 1, 2013 by AB 2083
(Vargas, Ch. 85, Stats. 2006). This bill finally deletes the
sunset, thus making these provisions permanent.
In support, the author states:
Each year 295,000 sudden cardiac arrests occur in the
United States that are treated outside of hospitals with
emergency services. Approximately 20% of these events
occur in the presence of a witness. The key to surviving a
sudden cardiac arrest is to administer CPR and the use of
an AED by a bystander. The AED returns a person's heart to
a normal rhythm.
Studies show that when CPR and AEDs are used within three
to five minutes from the onset of collapse, the survival
rate of a sudden cardiac arrest victim is as high as 50 to
70 percent. For every minute without a shock to the heart,
the chance of survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent?
Under current law, in order to be granted immunity from
liability, voluntary acquirers of AEDs, which include
building owners, schools, churches, senior centers and
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others, must adhere to requirements governing the placement
of AEDs. The requirements address, among other subjects,
training, maintenance, and written plans.
On January 1, 2013, current law - which has been in effect
for more than ten years - sunsets and different
requirements will take effect that are less clear and are
problematic in other respects.
An AED is a medical device which is used to administer an
electric shock through the chest wall to the heart after someone
suffers cardiac arrest. Built-in computers assess the patient's
heart rhythm, determine whether the person is in cardiac arrest,
and signal whether to administer the shock. Audible cues guide
the user through the process.
The American Heart Association, sponsor of the measure, writes
that "removing the sunset entirely creates more certainty
related to requirements that building owners and other voluntary
acquirers of AEDs must meet in order to be immune from civil
liability, likely resulting in more AED installations and
greater Good Samaritan access."
Good Samaritan protection already provided to laypersons; this
bill applies to those who acquire an AED, such as building
owners . To be clear, existing law already provides immunity
protection to laypersons who use an AED to render emergency
care, provided that they do not act with gross negligence or
willful or wanton misconduct. When this provision was first
enacted, it contained a training requirement for these
laypersons. However, in 2002, the Legislature passed and the
governor signed AB 2041 (Vargas), which removed this training
requirement and substantially relaxed the training requirement
for building owners. It was thought to be appropriate to treat
these two parties differently with respect to training since it
would be difficult to train every potential rescuer, but much
less difficult to train every anticipated rescuer (i.e.,
specified employees).
According to the California Medical Association, without
extending existing provisions as this bill does, "�t]hese
changes could lead to confusion and lack of compliance on the
part of facilities that currently maintain the devices, possibly
leading them to get rid of their AED altogether for fear of
violating the new requirements."
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Heart Association (sponsor)
Building Owners and Managers Association of California
California Ambulance Association
California Apartment Association
California Business Properties Association
California Chapter of the American College Cardiology
California Chapters of the American Red Cross
California Medical Association
California Professional Firefighters
California State PTA
California State Sheriffs' Association
CDF Firefighters Local 2881
City of Ventura
Civil Justice Association of California
League of California Cities
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert / JUD. / (916) 319-2334