I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1012 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to clarify liability protections 

regarding emergency use of automated external defibrillators. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

FEENSTRA, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. 

DUNN of Florida, Mr. SOTO, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. CALVERT, and Mr. SANTOS) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to clarify liability 

protections regarding emergency use of automated external defibrillators. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cardiac Arrest Sur5 vival Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Establishing a nationally uniform baseline 

2 of protection from civil liability for persons who use 

3 automated external defibrillators (in this section re4 ferred to as ‘‘AEDs’’) in perceived medical emer5 gencies, who own or hold other property interests in 

6 AEDs used in perceived medical emergencies, or who 

7 own, occupy, or manage premises in which an AED 

8 is used or from which an AED is taken for use in 

9 a perceived medical emergency will encourage the 

10 deployment of additional AEDs, which will ulti11 mately save lives that would otherwise have been lost 

12 to cardiac arrest. 

13 (2) The current patchwork of State ‘‘Good Sa14 maritan’’ laws provides incomplete, inconsistent, 

15 and, in some instances, inadequate protection for en16 tities considering the acquisition or deployment of 

17 AEDs. In these circumstances, concerns about po18 tential liability resulting from the good-faith acquisi19 tion and deployment of this life-saving technology 

20 are inhibiting its deployment. 

21 (3) Such concerns are especially acute for enti22 ties with operations or facilities in multiple States, 

23 yet such entities are also among those in which the 

24 widespread deployment of AEDs would be most ben25 eficial. 


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1 (4) A nationally uniform baseline of protection 

2 from civil liability is needed for persons who use 

3 AEDs in perceived medical emergencies, who own or 

4 hold other property interests in AEDs used in per5 ceived medical emergencies, or who own, occupy, or 

6 manage premises in which an AED is used or from 

7 which an AED is taken for use in a perceived med8 ical emergency. 

9 SEC. 3. LIABILITY REGARDING EMERGENCY USE OF AUTO10 MATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS. 

11 Section 248 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 238q) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 248. LIABILITY REGARDING EMERGENCY USE OF 

14 AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS. 

15 ‘‘(a) GOOD SAMARITAN PROTECTIONS.—Except as 

16 provided in subsection (e), in the case of a person who— 

17 ‘‘(1) uses or attempts to use an automated ex18 ternal defibrillator device on a victim of a perceived 

19 medical emergency, and 

20 ‘‘(2) is not the owner-acquirer (as defined in 

21 subsection (c)(2)) of the device, 

22 such person is immune from civil liability for any harm 

23 resulting from the use or attempted use of such device 

24 by such person. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PREMISES OWNER/LESSEE/MANAGER PROTEC2 TIONS.—Except as provided in subsection (e), in the case 

3 of a person who— 

4 ‘‘(1) owns, occupies under a lease or similar ar5 rangement, or manages— 

6 ‘‘(A) the premises at which an automated 

7 external defibrillator device is used or at8 tempted to be used on a victim of a perceived 

9 medical emergency, or 

10 ‘‘(B) the premises from which an auto11 mated external defibrillator device used or at12 tempted to be used on a victim of a perceived 

13 medical emergency is taken for such use, and 

14 ‘‘(2) is not the owner-acquirer of such device, 

15 such person is immune from civil liability for any harm 

16 resulting from such use or attempted use of such device. 

17 ‘‘(c) DEVICE OWNER-ACQUIRER PROTECTIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub19 section (e), an owner-acquirer of an AED is immune 

20 from civil liability for any harm resulting from the 

21 use or attempted use of such device, unless the harm 

22 was proximately caused by the failure of the owner23 acquirer to properly maintain the device according to 

24 the guidelines of the device manufacturer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) OWNER-ACQUIRER DEFINED.—For pur2 poses of this section, the term ‘owner-acquirer’ 

3 means any person who owns or has otherwise ac4 quired a possessory property interest in an AED 

5 that is used or attempted to be used on a victim of 

6 a perceived medical emergency. 

7 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY OF IMMUNITY IN CERTAIN CIR8 CUMSTANCES.—The immunity provided by subsections 

9 (a), (b), and (c) of this section shall apply regardless of 

10 whether— 

11 ‘‘(1) the AED that is used or attempted to be 

12 used is marked with or accompanied by cautionary 

13 signage; 

14 ‘‘(2) the AED that is used or attempted to be 

15 used is registered with any government; 

16 ‘‘(3) the person who used or attempted to use 

17 the AED saw, read, understood, complied with, or 

18 attempted to comply with any cautionary signage 

19 present; 

20 ‘‘(4) the person who used or attempted to use 

21 the AED had received any training relating to the 

22 use of (a) AEDs in general or (b) the particular 

23 AED used or attempted to be used; or 

24 ‘‘(5) the person who used or attempted to use 

25 the AED was assisted or supervised by any other 


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1 person, including but not limited to a licensed physi2 cian. 

3 ‘‘(e) INAPPLICABILITY OF IMMUNITY IN CERTAIN

4 CIRCUMSTANCES.—Notwithstanding anything to the con5 trary in subsection (d) of this section, immunity under 

6 subsection (a), (b), or (c)(1) does not apply to a person 

7 if— 

8 ‘‘(1) such person’s willful or criminal mis9 conduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a 

10 conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safe11 ty of the victim proximately caused the harm in12 volved; 

13 ‘‘(2) such person is a licensed or certified health 

14 professional who used the automated external 

15 defibrillator device while acting within the scope of 

16 the license or certification of the professional and 

17 within the scope of the employment or agency of the 

18 professional; 

19 ‘‘(3) such person is a hospital, clinic, or other 

20 entity whose purpose is providing health care di21 rectly to patients, and the harm was caused by an 

22 employee or agent of the entity who used the device 

23 while acting within the scope of the employment or 

24 agency of the employee or agent; or 


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1 ‘‘(4) such person is an owner-acquirer of the 

2 device who leased the device to a health care entity 

3 (or who otherwise provided the device to such entity 

4 for compensation without selling the device to the 

5 entity), and the harm was caused by an employee or 

6 agent of the entity who used the device while acting 

7 within the scope of the employment or agency of the 

8 employee or agent. 

9 ‘‘(f) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following apply with 

11 respect to this section: 

12 ‘‘(A) This section does not establish any 

13 cause of action, or require that an automated 

14 external defibrillator device be placed at any 

15 building or other location. 

16 ‘‘(B) With respect to the class of persons 

17 for which this section provides immunity from 

18 civil liability, this section preempts the law of 

19 any State to the extent that the otherwise-appli20 cable State law would allow for civil liability in 

21 any circumstance where this section would pro22 vide immunity from civil liability. 

23 ‘‘(C) This section does not waive any pro24 tection from liability for Federal officers or em25 ployees under— 


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1 ‘‘(i) section 233 of this title; or 

2 ‘‘(ii) sections 1346(b), 2672, and 

3 2679 of title 28, United States Code, or 

4 under alternative benefits provided by the 

5 United States where the availability of 

6 such benefits precludes a remedy under 

7 section 1346(b) of such title 28. 

8 ‘‘(2) CIVIL ACTIONS UNDER FEDERAL LAW.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicability of 

10 subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) includes 

11 applicability to any action for civil liability de12 scribed in subsection (a), (b), or (c) that arises 

13 under Federal law. 

14 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL AREAS ADOPTING STATE

15 LAW.—If a geographic area is under Federal 

16 jurisdiction and is located within a State but 

17 out of the jurisdiction of the State, and if, pur18 suant to Federal law, the law of the State ap19 plies in such area regarding matters for which 

20 there is no applicable Federal law, then an ac21 tion for civil liability described in subsection 

22 (a), (b), or (c) that in such area arises under 

23 the law of the State is subject to subsections 

24 (a) through (f) in lieu of any related State law 


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1 that would apply in such area in the absence of 

2 this subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL JURISDICTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) In any civil action arising under State law, 

5 the courts of the State involved have jurisdiction to 

6 apply the provisions of this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) The actual, asserted, or potential applica8 tion of any provision of this section in any civil ac9 tion or as to any civil claim shall not establish the 

10 original jurisdiction of the Federal courts over such 

11 action or claim under section 1331 of title 28, 

12 United States Code. 

13 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PERCEIVED MEDICAL EMERGENCY.—For 

15 purposes of this section, the term ‘perceived medical 

16 emergency’ means circumstances in which the behav17 ior of an individual leads a reasonable person to be18 lieve that the individual is experiencing a life-threat19 ening medical condition that requires an immediate 

20 medical response regarding the heart or other 

21 cardiopulmonary functioning of the individual. 

22 ‘‘(2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

23 this section: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The term ‘automated external 

2 defibrillator device’ or ‘AED’ means a 

3 defibrillator device that— 

4 ‘‘(i) is commercially distributed in ac5 cordance with the Federal Food, Drug, 

6 and Cosmetic Act; 

7 ‘‘(ii) is capable of recognizing the 

8 presence or absence of ventricular fibrilla9 tion, and is capable of determining without 

10 intervention by the user of the device 

11 whether defibrillation should be performed; 

12 ‘‘(iii) upon determining that 

13 defibrillation should be performed, is able 

14 to deliver an electrical shock to an indi15 vidual; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a defibrillator de17 vice that may be operated in either an 

18 automated or a manual mode, is set to op19 erate in the automated mode. 

20 ‘‘(B) The term ‘cautionary signage’ means, 

21 with respect to an AED, any verbal or non22 verbal markings or language purporting to limit 

23 use of the AED by members of the general pub24 lic or to permit use of the AED only by persons 

25 with specific skills, qualifications, or training. 


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1 ‘‘(C)(i) The term ‘harm’ includes physical, 

2 nonphysical, economic, and noneconomic losses. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘economic loss’ means any 

4 pecuniary loss resulting from harm (including 

5 the loss of earnings or other benefits related to 

6 employment, medical expense loss, replacement 

7 services loss, loss due to death, burial costs, and 

8 loss of business or employment opportunities) 

9 to the extent recovery for such loss is allowed 

10 under applicable State law. 

11 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘noneconomic losses’ means 

12 losses for physical and emotional pain, suf13 fering, inconvenience, physical impairment, 

14 mental anguish, disfigurement, loss of enjoy15 ment of life, loss of society and companionship, 

16 loss of consortium (other than loss of domestic 

17 service), hedonic damages, injury to reputation 

18 and all other nonpecuniary losses of any kind or 

19 nature.’’. 

Æ 


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