2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 90-602. Routine search for donor information.

§ 90‑602.  Routine search for donor information.

(a)       The following persons may make a reasonable search for a document of gift or other information identifying the bearer as an organ donor or as an individual who has refused to make an anatomical gift:

(1)       A law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or other official emergency rescuer finding an individual who the searcher believes is near death; and

(2)       A hospital, upon the admission of an individual at or near the time of death, if there is not immediately available any other source of that information.

(b)       Any law enforcement officer or other person listed in subsection (a) of this section may conduct an administrative search of the accident‑trauma victim's Division of Motor Vehicles driver record to determine the individual's authorization for organ donation or refusal of organ donation.

(c)       A physical search pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may be conducted at or near the time of death or hospital admission and shall be limited to those personal effects of the individual where a drivers license reasonably may be stored. Any information, document, tangible objects, or other items discovered during the search shall be used solely for the purpose of ascertaining the individual's identity, notifying the individual's next of kin, and determining whether the individual intends to make an anatomical gift, and in no event shall any such discovered material be admissible in any subsequent criminal or civil proceeding, unless obtained pursuant to a lawful search on other grounds. (1997‑443, s. 20.12(b).)