EMS Rules and Statutes

F.S. 125.01045 | Prohibition of fees for first responder services.
A county may not impose a fee or seek reimbursement for any costs or expenses that may be incurred for services provided by a first responder, including costs or expenses related to personnel, supplies, motor vehicles, or equipment in response to a motor vehicle accident, except for costs to contain or clean up hazardous materials in quantities reportable to the Florida State Warning Point at the Division of Emergency Management, and costs for transportation and treatment provided by ambulance services licensed pursuant to s. 401.23(4) and (5).

F.S. 316.072 | Obedience to and effect of traffic laws.
Includes obedience to Police, Fire and EMS vehicles, includes authorized emergency vehicles.

F.S. 316.0271 | Yellow DOT critical motorist medical information program; yellow dot decal, folder, and information form.
The governing body of a county may create a yellow dot critical motorist medical information program to facilitate the provision of emergency medical care to program participants by emergency medical responders by making critical medical information readily available to responders in the event of a motor vehicle accident or a medical emergency involving a participant’s vehicle.

F.S. 316.305 | Wireless communications devices; prohibition.
This section may be cited as the "Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law."

F.S. 316.1932 | Tests for alcohol, chemical substances, or controlled substances; implied consent; refusal.
Paramedics conducting blood draws for Law Enforcement.

F.S. 316.1933 | Blood test for impairment or intoxication in cases of death or serious bodily injury; right to use reasonable force.
Only a physician, certified paramedic, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, other personnel authorized by a hospital to draw blood, or duly licensed clinical laboratory director, supervisor, technologist, or technician, acting at the request of a law enforcement officer, may withdraw blood for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content thereof or the presence of chemical substances or controlled substances therein. However, the failure of a law enforcement officer to request the withdrawal of blood shall not affect the admissibility of a test of blood withdrawn for medical purposes.

F.S. 327.352 | Tests for alcohol, chemical substances, or controlled substances; implied consent; refusal.
Paramedics conducting Blood Draws for Law Enforcement

F.S. 327.353 | Blood test for impairment or intoxication in cases of death or serious bodily injury; right to use reasonable force.
Only a physician, certified paramedic, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, other personnel authorized by a hospital to draw blood, or duly licensed clinical laboratory director, supervisor, technologist, or technician, acting at the request of a law enforcement officer, may withdraw blood for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content thereof or the presence of chemical substances or controlled substances therein. However, the failure of a law enforcement officer to request the withdrawal of blood shall not affect the admissibility of a test of blood withdrawn for medical purposes.

F.S. 365.171 | Emergency communications state plan.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the communications number "911" be the designated emergency communications number. A public safety agency may not advertise or otherwise promote the use of any communications number for emergency response services other than "911." It is further the intent of the Legislature to implement and continually update a cohesive statewide emergency communications number "E911" plan for enhanced 911 services which will provide citizens with rapid direct access to public safety agencies by accessing "911" with the objective of reducing the response time to situations requiring law enforcement, fire, medical, rescue, and other emergency services.

F.S. 365.171(12)(b) | AED contact by public safety telecommunicator.
Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a 911 public safety telecommunicator, as defined in s.401.465, may contact any private person or entity that owns an automated external defibrillator who has notified the local emergency medical services medical director or public safety answering point of such ownership if a confirmed coronary emergency call is taking place and the location of the coronary emergency is within a reasonable distance from the location of the defibrillator, and may provide the location of the coronary emergency to that person or entity.

F.S. 395.1031 | Emergency medical services; communication.
Each licensed hospital with an emergency department must be capable of communicating by two-way radio with all ground-based basic life support service vehicles and advanced life support service vehicles that operate within the hospital’s service area under a state permit and with all rotorcraft air ambulances that operate under a state permit.

F.S. 381.88 | Emergency allergy treatment.
The purpose of this section is to provide for the certification of persons who administer lifesaving treatment to persons who have severe allergic reactions when a physician is not immediately available.

F.S. 381.00315 | Public health advisories; public health emergencies; isolation and quarantines.
Notwithstanding s. 456.036, temporarily reactivating the inactive license of the following health care practitioners, when such practitioners are needed to respond to the public health emergency.

F.S. 381.887 | Emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdose.
The purpose of this section is to provide for the prescription of an emergency opioid antagonist to patients and caregivers and to encourage the prescription of emergency opioid antagonists by authorized health care practitioners.

F.S. 383.50 | Treatment of surrendered newborn infant.
Each emergency medical services station or fire station staffed with full-time firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or paramedics shall accept any newborn infant left with a firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic.

F.S. 383.51 | Confidentiality; identification of parent leaving newborn infant at hospital, emergency medical services station, or fire station.
The identity of a parent who leaves a newborn infant at a hospital, emergency medical services station, or fire station in accordance with s. 383.50 is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.

F.S. 383.3362 | Sudden Unexpected Infant Death.
The Legislature further recognizes that first responders to emergency calls relating to such a death need access to special training to better enable them to recognize that such deaths may result from natural and accidental causes or may be caused by criminal acts and to appropriately interact with the deceased infant’s parents or caretakers.

F.S. 743.064 | Emergency medical care or treatment to minors without parental consent.
The absence of parental consent notwithstanding, a physician licensed under chapter 458 or an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 459 may render emergency medical care or treatment to any minor who has been injured in an accident or who is suffering from an acute illness, disease, or condition if, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, delay in initiation or provision of emergency medical care or treatment would endanger the health or physical well-being of the minor, and provided such emergency medical care or treatment is administered in a hospital licensed by the state under chapter 395 or in a college health service. Emergency medical care or treatment may also be rendered in the prehospital setting by paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and other emergency medical services personnel, provided such care is rendered consistent with the provisions of chapter 401.

F.S. 381.004 | HIV testing (significant exposure).
"Significant exposure" means:

1. Exposure to blood or body fluids through needlestick, instruments, or sharps;
2. Exposure of mucous membranes to visible blood or body fluids to which universal precautions apply according to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including, without limitations, the following body fluids:
   1. Blood.
   2. Semen.
   3. Vaginal secretions.
   4. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
   5. Synovial fluid.
   6. Pleural fluid.
   7. Peritoneal fluid.
   8. Pericardial fluid.
   9. Amniotic fluid.
   10. Laboratory specimens that contain HIV (e.g., suspensions of concentrated virus); or
3. Exposure of skin to visible blood or body fluids, especially when the exposed skin is chapped, abraded, or afflicted with dermatitis or the contact is prolonged or involving an extensive area.

F.S. 384.29 | Confidentiality of sexually transmitted diseases.
All information and records held by the department or its authorized representatives relating to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible diseases are strictly confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1).

F.S. 384.287 | Screening for sexually transmitted disease.
An officer as defined in s. 943.10(14); support personnel as defined in s. 943.10(11) who are employed by the Department of Law Enforcement, including, but not limited to, any crime scene analyst, forensic technologist, or crime lab analyst; firefighter as defined in s. 633.102; or ambulance driver, paramedic, or emergency medical technician as defined in s. 401.23, acting within the scope of employment, who comes into contact with a person in such a way that significant exposure, as defined in s. 381.004, has occurred may request that the person be screened for a sexually transmissible disease that can be transmitted through a significant exposure.

F.S. 395.1025 | Infectious diseases; notification.
Notwithstanding the provisions in s. 381.004, if, while treating or transporting an ill or injured patient to a licensed facility, an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or other person comes into direct contact with the patient who is subsequently diagnosed as having an infectious disease, it shall be the duty of the licensed facility receiving the patient to notify the emergency medical technician, paramedic, or his or her emergency medical transportation service employer, or other person of the individual’s exposure to the patient within 48 hours, or sooner, of confirmation of the patient’s diagnosis and to advise him or her of the appropriate treatment, if any.

F.S. 395.50 | Quality assurance activities of trauma agencies.
A hospital or an emergency medical services provider shall disclose records and reports of patient care, transport, and treatment to an entity, and a hospital or an emergency medical services provider may disclose to an entity and to one another its own quality assurance proceedings, records, or reports.

F.S. 395.4045 | EMS providers; trauma transport protocols; transport of trauma alert victims to trauma centers; interfacility transfer.
Each emergency medical services provider licensed under chapter 401 shall transport trauma alert victims to hospitals approved as trauma centers, except as may be provided for either in the department-approved trauma transport protocol of the trauma agency for the geographical area in which the emergency medical services licensee provides services or, if no such department-approved trauma transport protocol is in effect, as provided for in a department-approved provider's trauma transport protocol.

F.S. 395.1041 | Access to and ensurance of emergency services; transfers; patient rights; diversion programs; reports of controlled substance overdoses.
Emergency medical services providers may not condition the prehospital transport of any person in need of emergency services and care on the person’s ability to pay. Nor may emergency medical services providers condition a transfer on the person’s ability to pay when the transfer is made necessary because the patient is in immediate need of treatment for an emergency medical condition for which the hospital lacks service capability or when the hospital is at service capacity.

F.S. 415.1034 | Mandatory reporting of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults; mandatory reports of death.
Physician, osteopathic physician, medical examiner, chiropractic physician, nurse, paramedic, emergency medical technician, or hospital personnel engaged in the admission, examination, care, or treatment of vulnerable adults; who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a vulnerable adult has been or is being abused, neglected, or exploited shall immediately report such knowledge or suspicion to the central abuse hotline.

F.S. 394.463 | Involuntary examination (mental illness).
A person may be taken to a receiving facility for involuntary examination if there is reason to believe that the person has a mental illness and because of his or her mental illness.

F.S. 397.675 | Criteria for involuntary admissions, including protective custody, emergency admission, and other involuntary assessment, involuntary treatment, and alternative involuntary assessment for minors, for purposes of assessment and stabilization, and for involuntary treatment.
A person meets the criteria for involuntary admission if there is good faith reason to believe that the person is substance abuse impaired or has a co-occurring mental health disorder and, because of such impairment or disorder.

F.S. 395.1027 | Regional poison control centers.
There shall be created three certified regional poison control centers, one each in the north, central, and southern regions of the state.

F.S. 784.07 | Assault or battery of law enforcement officers and other specified personnel; reclassification of offenses; minimum sentences.
Assault or battery of EMS, fire, or law enforcement officer.

F.S. 790.338 | Medical privacy concerning firearms; prohibitions; penalties; exceptions.
Any emergency medical technician or paramedic acting under the supervision of an emergency medical services medical director under chapter 401 may make an inquiry concerning the possession or presence of a firearm if he or she, in good faith, believes that information regarding the possession of a firearm by the patient or the presence of a firearm in the home or domicile of a patient or a patient’s family member is necessary to treat a patient during the course and scope of a medical emergency or that the presence or possession of a firearm would pose an imminent danger or threat to the patient or others.

F.S. 440.091 | Law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic; when acting within the course of employment.
Specific workers' compensation when acting outside of jurisdiction and within the scope and state.

F.S. 768.13 | Good Samaritan Act; immunity from civil liability.
Any person, including those licensed to practice medicine, who gratuitously and in good faith renders emergency care or treatment either in direct response to emergency situations related to and arising out of a public health emergency declared pursuant to s. 381.00315, a state of emergency which has been declared pursuant to s. 252.36 or at the scene of an emergency outside of a hospital, doctor's office, or other place having proper medical equipment, without objection of the injured victim or victims thereof, shall not be held liable for any civil damages as a result of such care or treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in providing or arranging further medical treatment where the person acts as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted under the same or similar circumstances.

F.S. 768.1325 | Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (AED use); immunity from civil liability.
Any person who uses or attempts to use an automated external defibrillator device on a victim of a perceived medical emergency, without objection of the victim of the perceived medical emergency, is immune from civil liability for any harm resulting from the use or attempted use of such device.

F.S.768.1335 | Emergency Medical Dispatch Act (EMDs); presumption.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, and unless otherwise immune under s. 768.28, any emergency medical dispatcher or the emergency medical dispatch agency, its agents, or its employees who utilize emergency medical dispatch protocols are presumed not to have acted negligently regarding any injuries or damages resulting from the use of emergency medical dispatch protocols, if the emergency medical dispatcher or the emergency medical dispatch agency, its agents, or its employees:

F.S. 458.348 | Formal supervisory relationships, standing orders, and established protocols (physician); notice; standards. 
Physicians reporting to respective board
When a physician enters into a formal supervisory relationship or standing orders with an emergency medical technician or paramedic licensed pursuant to s. 401.27, which relationship or orders contemplate the performance of medical acts.

F.S. 459.025 | Formal supervisory relationships, standing orders, and established protocols (osteopathic physician); notice; standards.
Osteopathic physician reporting to respective board
When an osteopathic physician enters into a formal supervisory relationship or standing orders with an emergency medical technician or paramedic licensed pursuant to s. 401.27, which relationship or orders contemplate the performance of medical acts.

F.S. 456.076 | Impaired practitioner programs.
The program, as envisioned in the statute, is designed to assist health care practitioners who are impaired as a result of the misuse or abuse of alcohol or drugs, or of a mental or physical condition, which could affect the ability to practice with skill and safety.

Chapter 499, F.S. | Florida Drug and Cosmetic Act
     (a) Safeguard the public health and promote the public welfare by protecting the public from injury by product use and by merchandising deceit involving drugs, devices, and cosmetics.
     (b) Provide uniform legislation to be administered so far as practicable in conformity with the provisions of, and regulations issued under the authority of, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and that portion of the Federal Trade Commission Act which expressly prohibits the false advertisement of drugs, devices, and cosmetics.
     (c) Promote thereby uniformity of such state and federal laws, and their administration and enforcement, throughout the United States.

Rule Chapter 61N-1, F.A.C. | Regulations for Drugs, Devices, and Cosmetics.
This rule guides provides to understand the purchase storage of Drugs, Devices and Medical gases.