North Carolina § 90-21 - 14. First aid or emergency treatment; liability limitation.

§ 90-21. 14. First aid or emergency treatment; liability limitation.

Any person, including a volunteer medical or health care provider at a facility of a local health department as defined in G.S. 130A-2 or at a nonprofit community health center or a volunteer member of a rescue squad, who voluntarily and without expectation of compensation renders first aid or emergency health care treatment to a person who is unconscious, ill or injured, When the reasonably apparent circumstances require prompt decisions and actions in medical or other health care, and When the necessity of immediate health care treatment is so reasonably apparent that any delay in the rendering of the treatment would seriously worsen the physical condition or endanger the life of the person, Recodified as G.S. 90-21.16 by Session Laws 2001-230, s. 1(a), effective October 1, 2001. Nothing in this section shall be deemed or construed to relieve any person from liability for damages for injury or death caused by an act or omission on the part of such person while rendering health care services in the normal and ordinary course of his business or profession. Services provided by a volunteer health care provider who receives no compensation for his services and who renders first aid or emergency treatment to members of athletic teams are deemed not to be in the normal and ordinary course of the volunteer health care provider's business or profession. In the event of any conflict between the provisions of this section and those of G.S. 20-166(d), the provisions of G.S. 20-166(d) shall control and continue in full force and effect. shall not be liable for damages for injuries alleged to have been sustained by the person or for damages for the death of the person alleged to have occurred by reason of an act or omission in the rendering of the treatment unless it is established that the injuries were or the death was caused by gross negligence, wanton conduct or intentional wrongdoing on the part of the person rendering the treatment. The immunity conferred in this section also applies to any person who uses an automated external defibrillator (AED) and otherwise meets the requirements of this section. History (1975, 2nd Sess., c. 977, s. 4; 1985, c. 611, s. 2; 1989, cc. 498, 655; 1991, c. 655, s. 1; 1993, c. 439, s. 1; 1995, c. 85, s. 1; 2000-5, s. 4; 2001-230, ss. 1(a), 2; 2009-424, s. 1; 2014-120, s. 18.) Cross References. - As to immunity from liability of persons rendering first aid or emergency assistance at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, see G.S. 20-166(d) . As to application of this section to surgical operations on inmates of State penal institutions, see G.S. 148-22.2 . As to application of this section to treatment of prisoners' self-inflicted injuries, see G.S. 148-46.2 . Editor's Note. - G.S. 90-21.14(a1) was recodified as G.S. 90-21.16 by Session Laws 2001-230, s. 1(a) effective October 1, 2001, and applicable to acts or omissions occuring on and after that date. Session Laws 2014-120, s. 60, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2009-424, s. 1, effective August 5, 2009, added the last sentence of subsection (a). Session Laws 2014-120, s. 18, effective September 18, 2014, substituted "voluntarily and without expectation of compensation" for "receives no compensation for his services as an emergency medical care provider, who" in the introductory paragraph of subsection (a). Legal Periodicals. - For article discussing the North Carolina medical malpractice statute, see 62 N.C.L. Rev. 711 (1984). For article, "Senate Bill 33 Grants Protection to Emergency Room Providers ... and Just About Everyone Else, Too," see 91 N.C.L. Rev. 720 (2013).