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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2582 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2174 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Sean Garballey |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to liability protection for disaster volunteers. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Sean Garballey23rd Middlesex1/17/2023David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester1/24/2023James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex1/25/2023Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex1/26/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/26/2023Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/2/2023Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex2/6/2023Jon Santiago9th Suffolk2/6/2023Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/8/2023Denise C. Garlick13th Norfolk2/15/2023Simon Cataldo14th Middlesex2/22/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2582 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2174 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Garballey of Arlington, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2174) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Sean Garballey and others relative to liability protection for disaster volunteers. Public Health. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 2293 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to liability protection for disaster volunteers. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2following sections:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Section 12C ½. Whereas licensed registered nurses are critical, necessary volunteers in |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4disasters and emergencies occurring in the commonwealth, in order to provide for community |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5need, as volunteers they require protection from the commonwealth for licensure board |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6discipline; for civil and/or criminal liability and/or prosecution for injury or harm caused to a |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7patient cared for while serving as a volunteer; and for protection from injury or harm he/she |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8personally suffers during the course or as a result of his/her volunteer service.; |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9 (a) As used in this section, the following words, shall, unless the context clearly requires |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10otherwise, have the following meanings:- 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11 “Disaster”, an emergency detrimental to the public health declared by the governor of the |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12commonwealth of Massachusetts under section 2A of Chapter 17; a state of emergency declared |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13by the governor under chapter 639 of the Acts of 1950 (“Civil Defense Act”); and/or a public |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14health incident where local public health authorities have issued a request for volunteers because |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15local resources have been or are expected to be exhausted or are insufficient. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16 “Patient'', an individual who receives health services from a licensed registered nurse |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17during a declared disaster or emergency. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18 “Volunteer”, a licensed registered nurse in good standing who volunteers his/her services |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19in a disaster or emergency without compensation or expectation of payment. |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20 (b) A registered nurse licensed in the commonwealth of Massachusetts with no |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21encumbrance on his/her license who provides oversight or direct care to patients who are victims |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22of a disaster or emergency declared by the governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts or |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23local public health authorities is not subject to licensure board discipline under sections 74 to |
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| 53 | 53 | | 2481C of chapter 112 of the general laws, or to civil or criminal liability or prosecution for any |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25injury or harm that results from any act or omission that does not amount to criminal negligence: |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26 (c) A volunteer as defined in subsection (a) who sustains injury, disability or who dies |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27while serving as a volunteer shall be construed to be an employee of the commonwealth and |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28shall be compensated in like manner as state employees are compensated under the provisions of |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29sections 69 through 75 of chapter 152 of the general laws. |
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