TITLE 31 HEALTH

Section 39. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, 31-39-1 through 31-39-9.

ARTICLE 2 BIOTERRORISM PROTECTION FOR EMERGENCY RESPONDERS

31-39-7. Liability of persons carrying out in good faith decisions regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation; notification of next of kin or authorized person of patient by physician refusing to comply with order not to resuscitate.

1. No physician, health care professional, nurse, physician assistant, caregiver, health care facility, other licensed facility, emergency medical technician, or person employed by, acting as the agent of, or under contract with any of the foregoing shall be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability or be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct for carrying out in good faith a decision regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation authorized by this chapter by or on behalf of a patient or for those actions taken in compliance with the standards and procedures set forth in this chapter.
2. No physician, health care professional, nurse, physician assistant, caregiver, health care facility, other licensed facility, emergency medical technician, or person employed by, acting as the agent of, or under contract with any of the foregoing shall be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability or be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct for providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a patient for whom an order not to resuscitate has been issued, provided that such physician or person:
   1. Reasonably and in good faith was unaware of the issuance of an order not to resuscitate; or
   2. Reasonably and in good faith believed that consent to the order not to resuscitate had been revoked or canceled.
3. No persons shall be civilly liable for failing or refusing in good faith to effectuate an order not to resuscitate. No person shall be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability for consenting or declining to consent in good faith, on behalf of a patient, to the issuance of an order not to resuscitate pursuant to this chapter.
4. Any attending physician who fails or refuses to comply with an order not to resuscitate entered pursuant to this chapter shall endeavor to advise promptly the patient, if conscious, or the next of kin or authorized person of the patient that such physician is unwilling to effectuate the order. The attending physician shall thereafter at the election of the next of kin or authorized person:
   1. Make a good faith attempt to effect the transfer of the patient to another physician who will effectuate the order not to resuscitate; or
   2. Permit the next of kin or authorized person to obtain another physician who will effectuate the order not to resuscitate.
5. Any emergency medical technician who fails or refuses to comply with an order not to resuscitate entered pursuant to this chapter shall endeavor to advise promptly the patient, if conscious, or the next of kin or authorized person of the patient, if reasonably available, that such emergency medical technician is unwilling to effectuate the order.

(Code 1981, §31-39-7, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1853, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 722, § 5; Ga. L. 2011, p. 379, § 5/HB 275.)

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, in subsections (a) and (b), inserted "nurse, physician assistant, caregiver," and inserted "other licensed facility".