26B-8-311.  Search and notification.

(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:

Terms Used In Utah Code 26B-8-311

  • Anatomical gift: means a donation of all or part of a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Document of gift: means a donor card or other record used to make an anatomical gift. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Eye bank: means a person that is licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery, screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of human eyes or portions of human eyes. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Hospital: means a facility licensed as a hospital under the law of any state or a facility operated as a hospital by the United States, a state, or a subdivision of a state. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Organ procurement organization: means a person designated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services as an organ procurement organization. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Procurement organization: means an eye bank, organ procurement organization, or tissue bank. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Refusal: means a record created under Section 26B-8-306 that expressly states an intent to bar other persons from making an anatomical gift of an individual's body or part. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Tissue: means a portion of the human body other than an organ or an eye. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
  • Tissue bank: means a person that is licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law to engage in the recovery, screening, testing, processing, storage, or distribution of tissue. See Utah Code 26B-8-301
(a)  a law enforcement officer, firefighter, 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; and

(c)  a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical services provider, or other emergency rescuer who finds an individual who is deceased at the scene of a motor vehicle accident, when the deceased individual is transported from the scene of the accident to a funeral establishment licensed under Title 58, Chapter 9, Funeral Services Licensing Act:

(i)  the law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical services provider, or other emergency rescuer shall as soon as reasonably possible, notify the appropriate organ procurement organization, tissue bank, or eye bank of:

(A)  the identity of the deceased individual, if known;

(B)  information, if known, pertaining to the deceased individual’s legal next-of-kin in accordance with Section 26B-8-308; and

(C)  the name and location of the funeral establishment which received custody of and transported the deceased individual; and

(ii)  the funeral establishment receiving custody of the deceased individual under this Subsection (1)(c) may not embalm the body of the deceased individual until:

(A)  the funeral establishment receives notice from the organ procurement organization, tissue bank, or eye bank that the readily available persons listed as having priority in Section 26B-8-308 have been informed by the organ procurement organization of the option to make or refuse to make an anatomical gift in accordance with Section 26B-8-303, with reasonable discretion and sensitivity appropriate to the circumstances of the family;

(B)  in accordance with federal law, prior approval for embalming has been obtained from a family member or other authorized person; and

(C)  the period of time in which embalming is prohibited under Subsection (1)(c)(ii) may not exceed 24 hours after death.

(2)  If a document of gift or a refusal to make an anatomical gift is located by the search required by Subsection (1)(a) and the individual or deceased individual to whom it relates is taken to a hospital, the person responsible for conducting the search shall send 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.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 306, 2023 General Session