HBA-DMD H.B. 580 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 580 By: Janek Public Health 2/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, more than 1,000 people die every day from cardiac arrests. H.B. 580 establishes training and maintenance procedures for persons who acquire and use automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in places other than a hospital or a medical setting. The bill also limits the liability of a person who is trained to use AEDs provided that the person is acting in good faith. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Department of Health in SECTION 1 (Section 779.002, Health and Safety Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subtitle B, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, by adding Chapter 779, as follows: CHAPTER 779. AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS Sec. 779.001. DEFINITION. Defines "automated external defibrillator" (AED). Sec. 779.002. TRAINING. Requires a person who acquires an AED to ensure that each user of the AED receives training, that is to be given or approved by the American Heart Association or other nationally recognized association, in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of the defibrillator. Requires a person who acquires an AED to ensure that a licensed physician is involved in the training program to assure compliance with the requirements in this chapter. Requires the Texas Department of Health to adopt rules establishing the minimum requirements for the training. Sec. 779.003. MAINTENANCE OF AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR. Requires a person who owns or leases a defibrillator to maintain and test the AED in accordance with the manufacturer's guidelines. Sec. 779.004. USING AN AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR. Requires a person who uses an AED when providing emergency care to a person in a cardiac arrest to contact the local emergency medical services provider (provider) to notify the provider of the use of an AED. Sec. 779.005. NOTIFYING LOCAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PROVIDER. Requires a person, when acquiring a defibrillator, to notify the provider of the existence, location, and type of AED that the person has acquired. Sec. 779.006. LIABILITY EXEMPTION. Establishes that the prescribing physician who authorizes the acquisition of an AED, a person who provides training in the use of a AED, and the person responsible for the AED are not liable for civil damages for an act that was performed, unless the act is wilfully or wantonly negligent. SECTION 2. Amends Section 74.001(a), Civil Practice and Remedies Code, to include the use of an AED when a person administers emergency care at the scene of an emergency as an action for which that person is not liable in civil damages unless the act is wilfully or wantonly negligent. SECTION 3.Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4.Emergency clause.