Chapter I PRELIMINARY

(1) This Act may be called the Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation During Emergency Situations) Act, 2016.

1. (2) It shall come into force on such 1[date] as the State Government may, by notification, appoint. 1. The Act came into force on 03.05.2019 vide notification No HFW 109 CGE 2018, Bangalore, Dated:3 rd May 20 19. Text of the notification is at the end of the Act.

1. (a) 'Accident’ means the unforeseen, unexpected or unintentional occurrence of an event which results in the risk of death or injury to any person and includes road, rail, water or air accident;
2. (b) 'Appropriate authority’ means an authority appointed by the Government;
3. (c) 'Bystander’ means any person including a passerby who is an eye witness to an accident or incident of crime or any other emergency situation;
4. (d) 'Code' means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (central Act 2 of 1974);
5. (e) 'Emergency care’ means any reasonable measure to render first-aid, advise or assistance to an injured person of an accident or incident of crime or any other emergency situation at the scene of an accident or during transit to a place where actual medical treatment may be administered or inside a hospital;
6. (f) 'Emergency situations’ means a medical condition manifesting itself by symptoms of sufficient severity of such a nature that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably place the health and life of the person affected to risk or serious impairment to bodily functions or serious dis-function of any organ or part of the body;
7. (g) 'First –aid` means the immediate basic care given to an injured person of an accident or crash or incident of crime or any other emergency situation so as to stabilise his condition by any person including a medical professional before any decisive treatment;
8. (h) 'Government' means the Government of Karnataka;
   • (i) 'Good Samaritan’ means a person who, in good faith, without expectation of reward and without any duty of care or special relationship, voluntarily comes forward to administer emergency care to an injured person;
9. (j) 'Hospital’ means any institution by whatever name called that renders medical, surgical, therapeutic, diagnostic treatments, Medical care, facilities or services and includes a teaching hospital and all such similar institution;
10. (k) 'Incident of crime’ includes any offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Central Act 45 of 1860)that causes physical or bodily harm to person;
11. (l) 'Injured person’ shall include a person at risk of injury or a person in need of emergency care or treatment due to an accident or incident of crime or any other emergency situation;
12. (m) 'Medical professional’ means a doctor, surgeon, physician, nurse, hospital attendant, paramedical staff or any other person licensed or certified, responding to a medical emergency as part of their professional or statutory duty or part of employment, with the rendering of actual medical treatment;
13. (n) 'Medico-legal form’ means any document which hospital is required to prepare in relation to any proceedings conducted in a hospital having legal implications;
14. (o) 'Medical Procedure' means the initial examination, diagnosis or check-up conducted by a hospital or medical professional on any injured person, so as to determine the type of treatment that is necessary if any, to stabilize the condition of such injured person;
15. (p) 'Special relationship' means any of the following relationships, namely:-
    • (i) Doctor and patient;
    • (ii) Employer and employee;
    • (iii) Immediate family, including husband, wife, children and parents; and
    • (iv) Guardian or any other person in lawful charge under any law in force at the time;
16. (q) 'Stabilize’ means the rendering of any immediate emergency care of the injured person as may be necessary to assure within reasonable medical probability, that no material deterioration of the condition of such injured person is likely to result from or occur during the transfer of such injured person from one hospital to another, where such appropriate facilities are available to render the requisite treatment;
17. (r) 'Transfer’ means the movement including discharge of an injured person outside a hospital at the direction and assistance of any person employed by, or associated, directly or indirectly, with the hospital, but does not include such a movement of an individual who,-
    • (i) has been declared dead; or
    • (ii) leaves the hospital without the permission of any such person.
18. (s) ‘treatment’ means the rendering of appropriate medical care, facilities or services by a medical professional to an injured person, which includes first aid, emergency care and medical surgical, therapeutic and diagnostic treatment.