Montana Code 50-6-317. Liability protection
50-6-317. Liability protection. (1) A physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse licensed under the laws of this state who provides online medical direction to a member of an emergency medical service without compensation or for compensation not exceeding $5,000 in any 12-month period and whose professional practice is not primarily in an emergency or trauma room or ward is not liable for civil damages for an injury resulting from the instructions, except damages for an injury resulting from the gross negligence of the physician, physician assistant, or nurse, if the instructions given by the physician, physician assistant, or nurse are:
Terms Used In Montana Code 50-6-317
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Department: means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 50-6-302
- Emergency medical service: means an out-of-hospital health care treatment service or interfacility emergency medical transportation provided by an ambulance or nontransporting medical unit that is licensed by the department to provide out-of-hospital health care treatment services or interfacility emergency medical transportation, including community-integrated health care. See Montana Code 50-6-302
- Offline medical direction: means the function of a board-licensed physician or physician assistant in providing:
(a)medical oversight and supervision for an emergency medical service or an emergency care provider; and
(b)review of patient care techniques, emergency medical service procedures, and quality of care. See Montana Code 50-6-302
- Online medical direction: means the function of a board-licensed physician or physician assistant or the function of a designee of the physician or physician assistant in providing direction, advice, or orders to an emergency care provider for interfacility emergency medical transportation, out-of-hospital, emergency medical, or community-integrated health care, or patient care within a health care facility as identified in a plan for offline medical direction. See Montana Code 50-6-302
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)consistent with the protocols and the offline medical direction plan approved by the department in licensing the emergency medical service; and
(b)consistent with the level of licensure of the emergency medical services personnel instructed by the physician, physician assistant, or nurse.
(2)An individual who volunteers or who is reimbursed $5,000 or less in any 12-month period for providing offline medical direction is not liable for civil damages for an injury resulting from the performance of the individual’s offline medical direction duties, except damages for an injury resulting from the gross negligence of the individual.