§ 31-11-55. Services Which May Be Rendered by Certified Cardiac Technicians and Trainees

1. Upon certification by the department, cardiac technicians may do any of the following:
   1. Render first-aid and resuscitation services;
   2. Upon the order of a duly licensed physician and as recommended by the Georgia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council and approved by the department:
      1. Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation in a hemodynamically unstable patient;
      2. Administer approved intravenous solutions;
      3. Administer parenteral injections of antiarrhythmic agents, vagolytic agents, chronotropic agents, alkalizing agents, analgesic agents, and vasopressor agents or administer opioid antagonists;
      4. Perform pulmonary ventilation by esophageal airway and endotracheal intubation; and
      5. Upon the order of a duly licensed physician during a public health emergency, as defined in Code Section 31-12-1.1, administer vaccines.
2. While in training preparatory to becoming certified, cardiac technician trainees may perform any of the functions specified in this Code section under the direct supervision of a duly licensed physician or a registered nurse.

History. Code 1933, § 88-3112.4, enacted by Ga. L. 1977, p. 281, § 5; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1145, § 5; Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-5/HB 965; Ga. L. 2021, p. 782, § 6/SB 46.

The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, deleted “and” at the end of subparagraph (a)(2)(C); substituted “; and” for a period at the end of subparagraph (a)(2)(D); and added subparagraph (a)(2)(E).

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 2-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides:

“WHEREAS, Naloxone is an opioid antagonist developed to counter the effects of opiate overdose, specifically the life threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems; and

“WHEREAS, Naloxone is clinically administered via intramuscular, intravenous, or subcutaneous injection; and

“WHEREAS, Naloxone is administered outside of a clinical setting or facility intranasally via nasal atomizer; and

“WHEREAS, the American Medical Association supported the lay administration of this life saving drug in 2012; and

“WHEREAS, similar Naloxone access laws have reversed more than 10,000 opioid overdoses by lay people in other states; and

“WHEREAS, the American Medical Association acknowledged that ‘fatalities caused by opioid overdose can devastate families and communities, and we must do more to prevent these unnecessary deaths’; and

“WHEREAS, the National Institutes of Health found that Naloxone ‘lacks any psychoactive or addictive qualities . . . without any potential for abuse . . . [and] medical side effects or other problematic unintended consequences associated with Naloxone have not been reported’; and

“WHEREAS, any administration of Naloxone to an individual experiencing an opioid overdose must be followed by professional medical attention and treatment.”

Ga. L. 2014, p. 683, § 3-1/HB 965, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that Parts I and II of this Act shall apply to all acts committed on or after April 24, 2014.

For application of this statute in 2021, see Executive Order 01.07.21.02.

A listing of Executive Orders issued in 2020 and 2021 can be found at https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders.