Legislation to Protect Medical Volunteers

Introduced in US Senate Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate that offers a comprehensive solution to the fear of litigation that unnecessarily burdens volunteers and often prevents the provision of necessary goods and services to victims of national disasters and to all those in need. Known as The Good Samaritan Liability Improvement and Volunteer Encouragement Act of 2005, or GIVE Act, the bill will provide protection to volunteers across the nation, particularly those working in response to national disasters such as 9/11 or Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Specifically, the GIVE Act will provide that:

•  Disaster relief volunteers, generally, are not liable for harm caused in carrying out their volunteer activities in connection with disaster relief unless their act or omission constitutes willful, knowing or reckless misconduct;
•  Medical and other professionals can volunteer their services for disaster relief services based on being licensed in their home state regardless of where the declared disaster occurred;
•  Non-profit organizations are not liable for the acts or omissions of their volunteers unless the organization has willfully disregarded or is recklessly indifferent to the safety of the individual harmed.