West Virginia § 55-7-17 - 55-7-17. Aid by trained emergency services personnel; entities, immunity from civil liability; definitions.

§ 55-7-17. 55-7-17. Aid by trained emergency services personnel; entities, immunity from civil liability; definitions.

(a) A person trained in a qualified program of emergency services or an entity, who voluntarily and in good faith renders or provides advice, assistance, equipment, or materials at the scene of an actual or threatened accident, emergency, or disaster, and receives no remuneration for rendering or providing the advice, assistance, equipment, or materials is not liable for any civil damages as the result of any act or omission at the scene in rendering or providing advice, assistance, equipment, or materials: Provided , That the exemption from liability for civil damages of this section shall be extended to any person who receives reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in rendering or providing the advice, assistance, equipment, or materials or compensation from his or her regular employer for the time period during which he or she was actually engaged in rendering or providing advice, assistance, equipment, or materials, but is not extended to that person or an entity who by his, or her, or its act or omission caused or contributed to the cause of the actual or threatened accident, emergency, or disaster.

(b) For purposes of this section, the term "emergency" includes, without limitation, any instance where a person suffers from a medical condition requiring immediate treatment due to natural causes, accident, or crime.

(c) For purposes of this section, the term "disaster" has the same meaning as that term is defined in §15-5-2 of this code and temporally includes the imminent threat of disaster as well as its occurrence.

(d) For purposes of this section, the term “emergency services” means any mine rescue response services, hazardous substance response services, chemical substance and materials response services, hazardous waste response services and further has the meaning as the term is defined in §15-5-2 of the code.