(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), an emergency service personnel who provides peer support services as a member of a peer support team and has completed a training course described in Section 8669.30 and the state, local, or regional public fire agency that employs them, shall not be liable for damages, including personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or other loss related to an act, error, or omission in performing peer support services, unless the act, error, or omission constitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to an action for medical malpractice.
(c) A person described in subdivision (a) shall not provide peer support services if, when serving in a peer support role, the individual’s relationship with a peer support recipient could reasonably be expected to impair objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in providing peer support, or otherwise risk exploitation or harm to a peer support recipient.
(d) Whenever possible, a person described in subdivision (a) providing peer support services should not provide those services to a peer support recipient if the provider and recipient were both involved in the same specific traumatic incident, unless the incident is a large-scale incident.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 388, Sec. 2. (AB 1116) Effective January 1, 2020.)