State Prohibits Employers From Limiting CPR Help

In response to high-profile medical incident in Bakersfield (Calif.) earlier this year, the California state legislature has passed a bill that prohibits employers from establishing a policy against employees providing CPR voluntarily. Assembly Bill 663 helps to extend the existing liability protections that ordinary citizens have if they voluntarily provide medical assistance to victims of an emergency. The bill was sparked by a 911 call from an independent living center last March reporting a woman had collapsed. The caller was a nurse employee of the center, and explained to the dispatcher that providing medical assistance was against her employer’s policies. On the logging tape of the call, a dispatcher repeatedly asked the nurse to begin CPR or to flag down a passerby to help. Later, the company that operates the center said the nurse misunderstood the policy on providing medical aid. The bill has been sent to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. Download (pdf) the bill and the legislative analysis for more details.