1. The following persons shall make a reasonable search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or near death for a document of gift or other information identifying the individual as a donor or as an individual who made a refusal:

 a. A law enforcement officer, fire fighter, paramedic, or other emergency rescuer finding the individual.
 b. If no other source of the information is immediately available, a hospital, as soon as practical after the individual’s arrival at the hospital.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 142C.5A

  • Document of gift: means a donor card or other record used to make an anatomical gift, including a statement or symbol on a driver's license, identification card, or hunting, fishing, or fur harvester license, or an entry in a donor registry. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • gift: means a donation of all or part of the human body effective after the donor's death, for the purposes of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Hospital: means a hospital licensed under chapter 135B, or a hospital licensed, accredited, or approved under federal law or the laws of any other state, and includes a hospital operated by the federal government, a state, or a political subdivision of a state, although not required to be licensed under state laws. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Person: means person as defined in section 4. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Refusal: means a record created pursuant to section 142C. See Iowa Code 142C.2
 2. If a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift is located by the search required by subsection 1, paragraph “a”, and the individual or deceased individual to whom it relates is taken to a hospital, the person responsible for conducting the search shall deliver the document of gift or refusal to the hospital.
 3. A person is not subject to criminal or civil liability for failing to discharge the duties imposed by this section but may be subject to administrative sanctions.