Request By:
Mrs. Gladys Cooper, R.N., M.S.N.
Coordinator, Associate Degree
Nursing Program
Somerset Community College
Somerset, Kentucky 42501
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Martin Glazer, Assistant Attorney General
By your letter of January 20, 1977, you seek answers concerning the "Good Samaritan Law" or KRS 411.148. You state it is your understanding that nurses, physicians and certified emergency technicians are immune from liability in emergency situations, and you want to know whether the layman in Kentucky is also immune. This statute, KRS 411.148, provides as follows:
"(1) No physician licensed under KRS Chapter 311, registered or practical nurse licensed under KRS Chapter 314, or person certified as an emergency medical technician by the Kentucky department for human resources shall be liable in civil damages for administering emergency care or treatment at the scene of an emergency outside of a hospital, doctor's office, or other place having proper medical equipment excluding house calls, for acts performed at the scene of such emergency, unless such acts constitute willful or wanton misconduct.
"(2) Nothing in this section applies to the administering of such care or treatment where the same is rendered for remuneration or with the expectation of remuneration. "
The answer to your question is "no". The layman is not immune, and for your information, there is a question whether nurses, physicians and emergency technicians are immune, because the statute in question appears to conflict with Kentucky Constitutional Section 54 which provides as follows:
"The General Assembly shall have no power to limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death or for injuries to person or property."
Therefore, the attempt by the Legislature to limit liability of physicians, nurses and medical technicians may be unconstitutional under Kentucky's Constitution, but, of course, this question must await a decision by a court interpreting the aforesaid statute.