AN ACT
To
repeal section 192.1000, RSMo Supp. 1997, relating to first responder programs,
and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of
Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 192.1000, RSMo Supp. 1997, is repealed
and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 190.375, to
read as follows:
190.375. 1. For purposes of this section, "first
responder" shall be defined as a person who has successfully completed an
emergency first response course meeting or exceeding the national curriculum of
the United States Department of Transportation and any modifications to such
curricula specified by the department through rules adopted pursuant to
sections 190.001 to 190.180 and who provides emergency medical care through
employment by, or in association with, an emergency medical response agency.
Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010,
RSMo, that is promulgated under the authority of this chapter, shall become
effective only if the agency has fully complied with all of the requirements of
chapter 536, RSMo, including but not limited to, section 536.028, RSMo, if applicable,
after the effective date of this act. All rulemaking authority delegated prior
to the effective date of this act is of no force and effect and repealed as of
the effective date of this act, however nothing in this act shall be
interpreted to repeal or affect the validity of any rule adopted and
promulgated prior to the effective date of this act. If the provisions of
section 536.028, RSMo, apply, the provisions of this section are nonseverable
and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to section
536.028 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a
rule or portion of a rule are held unconstitutional or invalid, the purported
grant of rulemaking authority and any rule so proposed and contained in the order
of rulemaking shall be invalid and void, except that nothing in this act shall
affect the validity of any rule adopted and promulgated prior to the effective
date of this act.
2. Any county, municipality or fire protection district
may establish a program to allow the use of automated external defibrillators
by any person properly qualified who follows medical protocol for use of the
device or member of a fire, police, ambulance service, emergency medical
response agency or first responder agency provided that such person has
completed a course certified by the American Red Cross or American Heart
Association that includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and
demonstrated proficiency in the use of such automated external defibrillators.
3. A person or entity who acquires an automated external
defibrillator shall ensure that:
(1) Expected defibrillator users receive training by the
American Red Cross or American Heart Association in cardiopulmonary
resuscitation and the use of automated external defibrillators, or an
equivalent nationally recognized course in defibrillator use and
cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
(2) The defibrillator is maintained and tested according
to the manufacturer's operational guidelines;
(3) Any person who renders emergency care or treatment on
a person in cardiac arrest by using an automated external defibrillator
activates the emergency medical services system as soon as possible; and
(4) Any person that owns an automated external
defibrillator that is for use outside of a health care facility shall have a
physician provide medical protocol for the use of the device.
4. Any person or entity who acquires an automated external
defibrillator shall notify the emergency communications district or the
ambulance dispatch center of the primary provider of emergency medical services
where the automated external defibrillator is to be located.
5. Any person who has had appropriate training, including
a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, has demonstrated a proficiency in
the use of an automated external defibrillator, and who gratuitously and in
good faith renders emergency care when medically appropriate by use of or
provision of an automated external defibrillator, 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, where the person acts as an
ordinarily reasonable, prudent person, or with regard to a health care
professional, as a reasonably prudent and careful health care provider would
have acted, under the same or similar circumstances. Nothing in this section
shall affect any claims brought pursuant to chapter 537 or 538, RSMo.
[192.1000. 1. Pursuant to this section, a "First
Responder" program may be established which will allow the use of
automatic external defibrillators by first responders.
2. The program established pursuant to subsection 1 of
this section shall be in two stages. The first stage shall be an appropriate
pilot project in the following: any county of the first classification which
contains a city with a population of one hundred thousand or more inhabitants
which adjoins no other county of the first classification; any county of the
first classification without a charter form of government which adjoins the state
of Kansas and has a population greater than eighty- eight thousand and less
than one hundred thousand; any city with a population greater than seventy
thousand which is within a county of the first classification without a charter
form of government and such county adjoins the Missouri River and adjoins
another county of the first classification without a charter form of
government; any county of the third classification which adjoins the state of
Arkansas but does not adjoin the Mississippi River and has a population greater
than eighteen thousand and less than twenty-nine thousand; any county of the
third classification with a population greater than twenty-two thousand and
less than twenty-five thousand which adjoins a county of the first classification
without a charter form of government with a population greater than two hundred
thousand and such county of the third classification adjoins five other
counties of the third classification; any county of the third classification
with a population less than twenty thousand adjoining both the Mississippi
River and a county of the second classification; and any county of the third
classification which adjoins the state of Arkansas and contains a portion of a
lake which has more than three hundred miles of shoreline within the state of
Missouri. Following evaluation of the pilot projects, the department of health
may make recommendations to the legislature regarding statewide implementation
of the first responder early defibrillation.]