Florida CPR Laws: Immunity, AED Use, and DNR Orders

Florida CPR laws protect anyone who performs CPR in an emergency from civil liability, so long as they act in good faith and without gross negligence. The same body of law requires certain professionals to keep current CPR certification, gives separate immunity for using an automated external defibrillator, and recognizes Do Not Resuscitate Orders that legally override the default expectation of attempting resuscitation. If you are trying to figure out whether you can be sued for helping, whether your job requires certification, or when CPR should not be performed, the answers all sit in a handful of Florida statutes.

Immunity for Performing CPR

Florida Statute 768.13, the Good Samaritan Act, gives civil immunity to any person who provides emergency care voluntarily, in good faith, and without charging for it at the scene of an emergency or during a declared public health or state emergency.¹ If you stop to help someone in cardiac arrest and perform CPR, this is the statute that shields you if something goes wrong.

The threshold depends on who you are. An ordinary bystander is protected as long as they act the way a reasonably prudent person would in the same circumstances. No training or certification is required to be covered. Healthcare providers delivering emergency services lose immunity only if their conduct rises to reckless disregard for the patient’s life or health. Healthcare practitioners who happen to be at a hospital for unrelated reasons and voluntarily help a patient they have no existing relationship with are immune unless their conduct is willful and wanton.¹

The protection has limits. It does not apply if you provide care over the objection of a conscious, competent person who tells you to stop.¹ It also only covers the emergency itself, not ongoing care once the crisis has passed. And the care must be free. Charge for it and the immunity is gone.

Immunity for Using an AED

Florida provides a separate layer of protection for using an automated external defibrillator. Under Section 768.1325, the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, anyone who uses or attempts to use an AED on someone experiencing a perceived medical emergency is immune from civil liability for any harm that results, as long as the victim does not object.²

The immunity reaches beyond the person pressing the button. Businesses, homeowner associations, and other entities that acquire an AED and make it available are also protected, provided the device is properly maintained and employees reasonably expected to use it are trained. Training is not required when the device has built-in audio or visual instructions, which most modern AEDs do.²

Immunity is lost only for willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless disregard for the victim’s safety. Licensed health professionals using an AED within the scope of their employment do not qualify for this particular immunity, but they have their own protections under the Good Samaritan Act and their professional liability frameworks.²

Who Florida Requires to Be CPR Certified

No certification is required for a bystander to legally perform CPR. Several statutes, however, require specific professionals to hold current credentials as a condition of employment or licensure.

EMTs and Paramedics

Every emergency medical technician must hold a current American Heart Association or American Red Cross CPR card, or an equivalent. Paramedics must hold a certificate of successful course completion in advanced cardiac life support from the American Heart Association or its equivalent.³

Public School Athletic Coaches

Anyone employed as an athletic coach at a Florida public school must hold and maintain certification in CPR, first aid, and AED use, following national evidence-based emergency cardiovascular care guidelines.⁴ Volunteer coaches who are not employed by a school district are exempt.

Florida Statute 1006.165 separately requires that a school employee or volunteer with current CPR and AED training be present at every athletic event, including practices, workouts, and conditioning sessions. Anyone reasonably expected to use a defibrillator must have demonstrated proficiency with it.⁵

Childcare Facility Staff

At least one staff member trained in CPR must be present at all times children are in care at a licensed childcare facility. The training must be completed in person, with current documentation of course completion.⁶ Online-only CPR courses will not satisfy this requirement.

Common Misconceptions

Florida does not require registered nurses or licensed practical nurses to hold CPR certification as a condition of state licensure. Most healthcare employers require it as a workplace policy, but that is an employer mandate, not state law. No Florida statute requires personal trainers or fitness instructors to be CPR certified either. Industry certifying bodies typically require it for their credentials, so most working trainers have it, but letting the certification lapse is not a legal violation in Florida.

When a DNR Order Overrides the Duty to Resuscitate

A valid Do Not Resuscitate Order legally overrides the default practice of performing CPR. Under Florida Statute 401.45, EMTs and paramedics may withhold or withdraw resuscitation when presented with evidence of a valid DNRO. The statute provides complete legal protection to any EMT, paramedic, physician, or medical director who honors one: no criminal prosecution, civil liability, or professional discipline.⁷

The order must be on the official Florida Department of Health form, DH 1896. It requires signatures from both the patient’s physician, physician assistant, or autonomous advanced practice registered nurse and the patient. If the patient cannot sign, a health care surrogate, court-appointed guardian, or attorney in fact with authority to make health care decisions may sign instead.⁸

One detail trips people up. For EMS to honor the form in a prehospital setting, the original or copy must be printed on yellow paper. Any shade of yellow works, but if the paper is not yellow, an EMT or paramedic is not required to follow it.⁸ The Florida Department of Health also issues a DNRO identification device — a bracelet or similar item — that EMTs can recognize in the field as an alternative to the paper form.⁹

Stopping CPR Once You’ve Started

Beginning CPR does not legally lock you in until a paramedic arrives. The Good Samaritan Act protects emergency care at the scene, and a bystander who begins CPR can generally stop if they become physically unable to continue or if the scene becomes unsafe. No law requires you to endanger yourself to keep going.

The calculation is different for a credentialed professional. An EMT or paramedic who begins treating a patient and then stops prematurely, or hands off to someone with less training while the patient still needs their level of care, could face an abandonment claim. The core question in such cases is whether a provider unilaterally ended a care relationship while the patient still needed that level of treatment. For bystanders without a professional duty, this risk is essentially nonexistent. For EMS personnel, the immunity in Section 768.13 for emergency care, together with the practical reality that stopping CPR to let a more qualified provider take over is standard protocol, keeps abandonment claims tied to CPR rare.

1
Justia Law. Florida Code 768.13 – Good Samaritan Act; Immunity From Civil Liability
2
Justia Law. Florida Code 768.1325 – Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; Immunity From Civil Liability
3
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 401.27 – Personnel; Certification
4
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 1012.55 – Positions for Which Certificates Required
5
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 1006.165 – Automated External Defibrillators at Athletic Venues
6
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 402.305 – Licensing Standards; Child Care Facilities
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 401.45 – Denial of Emergency Treatment
8
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 64J-2.018 – Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNRO) Form and Device
9
Florida Department of Health. Do Not Resuscitate Order