Washington law: Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 70.54.310.
Statute: Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 70.54.310.
Law Type: Registration; Training; Good Samaritan
Status: Enacted
Summary:
As used in this section, “defibrillator” means a semiautomatic external defibrillator as prescribed by a physician licensed or an osteopath licensed.
A person or entity who acquires a defibrillator shall ensure that: (a) Expected defibrillator users receive reasonable instruction in defibrillator use and cardiopulmonary resuscitation by a course approved by the department of health; (b) The defibrillator is maintained and tested by the acquirer according to the manufacturer's operational guidelines; (c) Upon acquiring a defibrillator, medical direction is enlisted by the acquirer from a licensed physician in the use of the defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; (d) The person or entity who acquires a defibrillator shall notify the local emergency medical services organization about the existence and the location of the defibrillator; and (e) The defibrillator user shall call 911 or its local equivalent as soon as possible after the emergency use of the defibrillator and shall assure that appropriate follow-up data is made available as requested by emergency medical service or other health care providers.
A person who uses a defibrillator at the scene of an emergency and all other persons and entities providing services under this section are immune from civil liability for any personal injury that results from any act or omission in the use of the defibrillator in an emergency setting. The immunity from civil liability does not apply if the acts or omissions amount to gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
We make every attempt to ensure the accuracy of our research regarding automated external defibrillator (AED) unit laws in each state across the country, however, with laws varying from state-to-state and even on a local basis, as you might imagine, staying abreast of constant changes is a very challenging process. As such, it's important to note that our findings should be used for informational purposes only and that any specific AED laws or AED requirements for your AED program should be developed between you and your legal counsel. If you have any suggestions, information, or tips on new or pending AED unit legislation that you feel might help improve our AED requirement pages, please contact us to let us know! By spreading knowledge about how to build and manage legally compliant AED programs, we hope to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest.