2021 Georgia Code
Title 31 - Health
Chapter 11 - Emergency Medical Services
Article 3 - Personnel
§ 31-11-55. (See Editor's notes.) Services Which May Be Rendered by Certified Cardiac Technicians and Trainees
- Upon certification by the department, cardiac technicians may do any of the following:
- Render first-aid and resuscitation services;
- Upon the order of a duly licensed physician and as recommended by the Georgia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council and approved by the department:
- Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation in a hemodynamically unstable patient;
- Administer approved intravenous solutions;
- Administer parenteral injections of antiarrhythmic agents, vagolytic agents, chronotropic agents, alkalizing agents, analgesic agents, and vasopressor agents or administer opioid antagonists;
- Perform pulmonary ventilation by esophageal airway and endotracheal intubation; and
- Upon the order of a duly licensed physician during a public health emergency, as defined in Code Section 31-12-1.1, administer vaccines.
- While in training preparatory to becoming certified, cardiac technician trainees may perform any of the functions specified in this Code section under the direct supervision of a duly licensed physician or a registered nurse.
(Code 1933, § 88-3112.4, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 281, § 5; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1145, § 5; Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-5/HB 965; Ga. L. 2021, p. 782, § 6/SB 46.)
The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, deleted "and" at the end of subparagraph (a)(2)(C); substituted "; and" for a period at the end of subparagraph (a)(2)(D); and added subparagraph (a)(2)(E).
Editor's notes.- 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.
For application of this statute in 2021, see Executive Order 01.07.21.02.
A listing of Executive Orders issued in 2020 and 2021 can be found at https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders.