2021 Georgia Code
Title 31 - Health
Chapter 11 - Emergency Medical Services
Article 3 - Personnel
§ 31-11-54. Services Which May Be Rendered by Paramedics and Paramedic Trainees

1. Upon certification by the department, paramedics may perform any service that a cardiac technician is permitted to perform. In addition, upon the order of a duly licensed physician and subject to the conditions set forth in paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section 31-11-55, paramedics may perform any other procedures which they have been both trained and certified to perform, including, but not limited to:
   1. Administration of parenteral injections of diuretics, anticonvulsants, hypertonic glucose, antihistamines,broncho- dilators, emetics, narcotic antagonists, and others, and administration of opioid antagonists;
   2. Cardioversion; and
   3. Endotracheal suction.
2. While in training preparatory to becoming certified, paramedic trainees may perform any of the functions specified in this Code section under the direct supervision of a duly licensed physician, a registered nurse, or an approved paramedic clinical preceptor.

(Code 1933, § 88-3112.5, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 281, § 6; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1923, § 4; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1782, § 2; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1145, § 4; Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-4/HB 965.)

- Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides:

"WHEREAS, Naloxone is an opioid antagonist developed to counter the effects of opiate overdose, specifically the life threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems; and

"WHEREAS, Naloxone is clinically administered via intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous injection; and

"WHEREAS, Naloxone is administered outside of a clinical setting or facility intranasally via nasal atomizer; and

"WHEREAS, the American Medical Association supported the lay administration of this life saving drug in 2012; and

"WHEREAS, similar Naloxone access laws have reversed more than 10,000 opioid overdoses by lay people in other states; and

"WHEREAS, the American Medical Association acknowledged that 'fatalities caused by opioid overdose can devastate families and communities, and we must do more to prevent these unnecessary deaths'; and

"WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health found that Naloxone 'lacks any psychoactive or addictive qualities . . . without any potential for abuse . . . [and] medical side effects or other problematic unintended consequences associated with Naloxone have not been reported'; and

"WHEREAS, any administration of Naloxone to an individual experiencing an opioid overdose must be followed by professional medical attention and treatment."

Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 3-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that Parts I and II of this Act shall apply to all acts committed on or after April 24, 2014.