Minnesota Session Laws - 1983, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1983 

                        CHAPTER 319--H.F.No. 380
           An act relating to negligence; regulating the 
          liability of good samaritans; creating a duty to 
          assist in certain circumstances; making it a petty 
          misdemeanor to refuse to assist; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1982, section 604.05.  
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 604.05, is 
amended to read: 
    604.05 [GOOD SAMARITAN LAW.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [DUTY TO ASSIST.] Any person at the scene 
of an emergency who knows that another person is exposed to or 
has suffered grave physical harm shall, to the extent that he 
can do so without danger or peril to himself or others, give 
reasonable assistance to the exposed person.  Reasonable 
assistance may include obtaining or attempting to obtain aid 
from law enforcement or medical personnel.  Any person who 
violates this section is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.  
    Subd. 2.  [GENERAL IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY.] A Any person, 
including a public or private nonprofit volunteer firefighter, 
volunteer police officer, volunteer ambulance attendant, and 
volunteer first provider of emergency medical services, who in 
good faith and in the exercise of reasonable care without 
compensation or the expectation of compensation renders 
emergency care at the scene of an emergency or during transit to 
a location where professional medical care can be rendered, is 
not liable for any civil damages as a result of acts or 
omissions by that person in rendering the emergency care unless 
that person acts in a willful and wanton or reckless manner in 
providing the care.  Any person rendering emergency care during 
the course of regular employment, and receiving compensation or 
expecting to receive compensation for rendering such care, shall 
be excluded from the protection of this section. 
    For the purposes of this section, the scene of an emergency 
shall be those areas not within the confines of a hospital or 
other institution which has hospital facilities, or an office of 
a person licensed to practice one or more of the healing arts 
pursuant to chapters 147, 148, 150A, or 153. 
    For the purposes of this section, compensation does not 
include nominal payments, reimbursement for expenses, or pension 
benefits.  
    Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 1, subdivision 1, is effective August 1, 1983. 
Section 1, subdivision 2, is effective the day following final 
enactment for causes of action arising on and after that date. 
    Approved June 14, 1983