§321-23.3  Volunteer emergency medical
disaster response personnel.  (a)  All volunteer emergency medical disaster
response personnel including:



(1)  Physicians;



(2)  Psychologists;



(3)  Nurses;



(4)  Emergency medical technicians;



(5)  Social workers;



(6)  Mobile intensive care technicians; and



(7)  Physician assistants



licensed in the State, or employed by a health care
facility, while engaged in the emergency response to a mass casualty event or
disaster condition, including participation during periods of mass casualty and
disaster management training, shall be deemed state employees or county
employees, as the case may be, and shall have the powers, duties, rights, and
privileges of such in the performance of their duties as prescribed by or under
the authority of the governor or a county.



(b)  For the purposes of this section, any
physician or physician assistant licensed in the State having privileges and
credentials at public or private health care facilities licensed in the State,
shall be deemed as having credentials with the same medical staff privileges at
other hospitals for the purpose of rendering professional medical care under a
mass casualty or disaster condition.



(c)  In the case of injury or death arising out
of and in the performance of duty pursuant to this section, including duty
performed during periods of training, all volunteer emergency medical disaster
response personnel and their dependents shall be entitled to all of the
benefits provided in chapter 386, including medical services and supplies.  In
the case of injury or death, no public official shall be excluded from coverage
of chapter 386.  Benefits shall be based on average weekly wages set forth in
section 386-51, or based on earnings from the usual employment of the person, or
based on earnings at the rate of $20 a week, whichever is most favorable to the
claimant.  Nothing in this section shall adversely affect the right of any
person to receive any benefits or compensation under any act of Congress.



(d)  Except in cases of wilful misconduct, the
State, any county, or any volunteer emergency medical disaster response
personnel engaged in the emergency response to a mass casualty event or
disaster condition pursuant to this section (including volunteers whose
services are accepted by any authorized person), shall not be liable for the
death of or injury to persons, or for damage to property, as a result of any
act or omission in the course of rendering professional medical care under a
mass casualty event or disaster condition.  No act or omission shall be imputed
to the owner of any vehicle by reason of ownership thereof; provided that
nothing in this section shall preclude recovery by any person for injury or
damage sustained from the operation of any vehicle that may be insured under
section 41D-8 to the extent of the insurance.  Unless specifically provided,
insurance effected under section 41D-8 shall not include coverage of such risk
during a disaster emergency period.



(e)  A physician assistant licensed in this
State or licensed or authorized to practice in any other United States
jurisdiction, or who is credentialed as a physician assistant by a federal
employer who is responding to a need for medical care created by a public
emergency or a state or local disaster, may provide medical care that the
physician assistant is authorized to provide without physician supervision,
pursuant to chapter 453, or with appropriate physician supervision that is
available; provided that:



(1)  Any physician who supervises a physician assistant
providing medical care in response to a public emergency or state or local
disaster shall not be required to meet the requirements set forth in chapter
453 for a supervising physician; and



(2)  No physician who supervises a physician assistant
voluntarily and gratuitously providing emergency care pursuant to this
subsection shall be liable for civil damages for any personal injuries which
result from acts or omissions by the physician assistant providing emergency
care.



(f)  For the purposes of this section:



"Disaster condition" means a sudden
catastrophic event that overwhelms natural order and causes loss of property or
life and exceeds or disrupts the capabilities of available medical resources to
receive and provide medical care within a community.



"Mass casualty event" means a number
of casualties generated more or less simultaneously, that exceeds the ability
to provide usual medical care including but not limited to an airplane crash,
collapsed building, bombing, or hurricane. [L 1998, c 105, §1; am L 2009, c
151, §11]



 



Revision Note



 



  This section was renumbered from §321-228.5.