Opioid Antagonists Administered by First Responder to Save Life of Person Experiencing Opioid Related Overdose

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  2. Georgia Code
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  4. Emergency Medical Services
  5. Personnel
  6. Opioid Antagonists Administered by First Responder to Save Life of Person Experiencing Opioid Related Overdose

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  1. As used in this Code section, the term:
    1. "First responder" means any person or agency who provides on-site care until the arrival of a duly licensed ambulance service. This shall include, but not be limited to, persons who routinely respond to calls for assistance through an affiliation with law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and rescue agencies.
    2. "Opioid antagonist" means any drug that binds to opioid receptors and blocks or inhibits the effects of opioids acting on those receptors and that is approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of an opioid related overdose.
    3. "Opioid related overdose" means an acute condition, including, but not limited to, extreme physical illness, decreased level of consciousness, respiratory depression, coma, mania, or death, resulting from the consumption or use of an opioid or another substance with which an opioid was combined or that a layperson would reasonably believe to be resulting from the consumption or use of an opioid or another substance with which an opioid was combined.
  2. An opioid antagonist may be administered or provided by any first responder for the purpose of saving the life of a person experiencing an opioid related overdose. In order to ensure public health and safety:
    1. All first responders who have access to or maintain an opioid antagonist obtain appropriate training as set forth in the rules and regulations of the Department of Public Health;
    2. All law enforcement agencies, fire departments, rescue agencies, and other similar entities shall notify the appropriate emergency medical services system of the possession and maintenance of opioid antagonists by its personnel; and
    3. Within a reasonable period of time, all first responders who administer or provide an opioid antagonist shall make available a printed or electronically stored report to the licensed ambulance service which transports the patient.
  3. A pharmacy licensed in this state may issue opioid antagonists to first responders for use pursuant to this Code section in the same manner and subject to the same requirements as provided in Code Section 26-4-116.
  4. Any first responder who gratuitously and in good faith renders emergency care or treatment by administering or providing an opioid antagonist shall not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in providing or arranging further medical treatment where the person acts without gross negligence or intent to harm or as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted under the same or similar circumstances, even if such individual does so without benefit of the appropriate training. This subsection includes paid persons who extend care or treatment without expectation of remuneration from the patient or victim for receiving the opioid antagonist.

(Code 1981, §31-11-55.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-6/HB 965.)

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides:

"WHEREAS, Naloxone is an opioid antagonist developed to counter the effects of opiate overdose, specifically the life threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems; and

"WHEREAS, Naloxone is clinically administered via intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous injection; and

"WHEREAS, Naloxone is administered outside of a clinical setting or facility intranasally via nasal atomizer; and

"WHEREAS, the American Medical Association supported the lay administration of this life saving drug in 2012; and

"WHEREAS, similar Naloxone access laws have reversed more than 10,000 opioid overdoses by lay people in other states; and

"WHEREAS, the American Medical Association acknowledged that 'fatalities caused by opioid overdose can devastate families and communities, and we must do more to prevent these unnecessary deaths'; and

"WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health found that Naloxone 'lacks any psychoactive or addictive qualities . . . without any potential for abuse . . . [and] medical side effects or other problematic unintended consequences associated with Naloxone have not been reported'; and

"WHEREAS, any administration of Naloxone to an individual experiencing an opioid overdose must be followed by professional medical attention and treatment."

Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 3-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that Parts I and II of this Act shall apply to all acts committed on or after April 24, 2014.


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