HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2312
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO TORTS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that every day, over seven hundred lives are lost to sudden cardiac arrest in the United States.  Two out of three deaths occur before a victim can reach a hospital.  More than ninety-five per cent of cardiac arrest victims will die; many die due to the lack of readily available life saving medical equipment.  Up to thirty per cent of cardiac arrest victims could be saved if they had access to immediate medical response, including defibrillation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

     Lay rescuer programs that provide early recognition of cardiac arrest, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and early defibrillation within the first minutes of cardiac arrest can increase survival by seven times or more.  Communities that have implemented programs ensuring widespread public access to defibrillators, combined with appropriate training, maintenance, and coordination with local emergency medical systems, have dramatically improved the survival rates for victims in cardiac arrest.  In Hawaii, the promotion of early cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation use could save an additional one hundred victims of sudden cardiac arrest each year.    Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to encourage people to conduct early cardiopulmonary resuscitation for individuals in emergency situations by excepting from liability persons who, in good faith, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

     SECTION 2.  Section 663-1.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  Any person who in good faith renders emergency care, including but not limited to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, without remuneration or expectation of remuneration, at the scene of an accident or emergency to a victim of the accident or emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages resulting from the person's acts or omissions, except for such damages as may result from the person's gross negligence or wanton acts or omissions."

     SECTION 3.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

Report Title:

Liability; Good Faith; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

 

Description:

Specifies that the exemption from liability for civil damages resulting from a person's acts or omissions in rendering emergency care also applies to the person's acts or omissions in administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, under certain conditions.  (SD2)

 

 

 

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