H-1776              _______________________________________________

                                          SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 1388

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By House Committee on State Government (originally sponsored by Representatives Cooper, D. Sommers, R. Fisher, Prince, Walk, Schmidt, Patrick, Heavey, Crane, R. Meyers, Day and Moyer)

Read first time 2/17/89.

AN ACT Relating to persons rendering emergency care or transport; and amending RCW 4.24.310.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 58, Laws of 1975 as last amended by section 501, chapter 212, Laws of 1987 and RCW 4.24.310 are each amended to read as follows:

          For the purposes of RCW 4.24.300 the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

          (1) "Compensation" has its ordinary meaning but does not include nominal payments, reimbursement for expenses, or pension benefits, nor does it include payment made to volunteer part-time and volunteer on-call personnel of fire departments, fire districts, ambulance districts, police departments, or any emergency response organizations.  "Compensation" does not include any payment to a person who is not a health care provider as defined in RCW 7.70.020, and that is paid to the person for his or her regular work, which work does not routinely include providing emergency care or emergency transportation, but may include such care or transportation as an incidental part of the work.

          (2) "Emergency care" means care, first aid, treatment, or assistance rendered to the injured person in need of immediate medical attention and includes providing or arranging for further medical treatment or care for the injured person.  Except with respect to the injured person or persons being transported for further medical treatment or care, the immunity granted by RCW 4.24.300 does not apply to the negligent operation of any motor vehicle.

          (3) "Scene of an emergency" means the scene of an accident or other sudden or unexpected event or combination of circumstances which calls for immediate action.