(a) Subject to subsection (b), volunteer health practitioners authorized to provide health services pursuant to this part are not liable for the payment of a judgment based on their acts or omissions in providing services, nor shall they be named as defendants in an action based on their acts or omissions.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 58-2-811
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
Emergency: means an occurrence, or threat thereof, whether natural, technological, or manmade, in war or in peace, that results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population, or substantial damage to or loss of property. See Tennessee Code 58-2-101
Health practitioner: means an individual licensed under any chapter of titles 62, 63 or 68, or their counterparts in another state, to provide health services. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
Health services: means : (A) The provision of treatment, care, advice or guidance, other services, or supplies related to the health or death of individuals or human populations, to the extent necessary to respond to an emergency, including:(i) The following, concerning the physical or mental condition or functional status of an individual or affecting the structure or function of the body: (a) Preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or palliative care. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
License: includes authorization under the laws of this state to an individual to provide health services based upon a national certification issued by a public or private entity. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 58-2-802
Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), this section does not apply to:
(1) Willful, wanton, grossly negligent, reckless, or criminal conduct of, or an intentional tort committed by, a volunteer health practitioner; or(2) An action brought against a volunteer health practitioner:
(A) For damages for breach of contract, other than for contracts related to the provision of health or veterinary services;(B) By a source or host entity; or(C) Relating to the operation of a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or other vehicle by a volunteer health practitioner for which this state requires the operator to have a valid operator’s license or to maintain liability insurance, other than an ambulance or other emergency response vehicle, vessel, or aircraft operated by a volunteer health practitioner responding to a request for health services or transporting a patient.(c) Source, coordinating, and host entities are not vicariously liable for the acts or omissions of volunteer health practitioners in providing health services authorized pursuant to this part.(d) Source, coordinating, and host entities are not liable for civil damages for the operation of, or reliance upon information provided by a registration system, unless the acts or omissions constitute an intentional tort or are willful, wanton, grossly negligent, reckless, or criminal in nature.(e) Notwithstanding subsection (a), for purposes of recovering damages from the state, volunteer health practitioners shall be considered volunteer state employees under § 8-42-101(3)(B) for purposes of § 9-8-112, for the purposes of recovering damages from the states based on their acts or omissions in providing health services pursuant to this part. The registration of individual volunteer health practitioners with the board of claims required under § 8-42-101(3)(B) shall be made by the registration system under which the volunteer health practitioner was registered; provided, however, that nothing in this part shall authorize any volunteer health practitioner’s participation as a member of the Tennessee consolidated retirement system, unless the practitioner was a member at the time the emergency was declared.
