Pennsylvania has two medical amnesty laws: one for alcohol and one for controlled substances. These laws give individuals immunity from being charged with certain offenses if they seek medical attention for another individual. Many colleges have their own medical amnesty policies to similarly protect students from disciplinary actions and code of conduct violations.
 
To guarantee that students feel safe to utilize these protections, we will be introducing two bills that would prohibit law enforcement from charging or prosecuting an individual for recklessly endangering another person if they call 911, believe that someone else is in need of immediate medical attention to prevent alcohol poisoning or overdose, comply and cooperate with first responders, and stay with the individual in crisis until first responders arrive.
 
Earlier this year, a student at one of our state universities was charged with recklessly endangering another student who was suffering from alcohol poisoning and although he found this student and followed the university’s amnesty policy and stayed with the other student until first responders arrived, law enforcement felt that he took too long to seek help and the police ignored the published university policy. This decision has a chilling effect on students assisting or becoming involved if they see another student in trouble as there are effectively no legal protections for a good Samaritan assisting a student in trouble.  By taking this step to better protect students under our medical amnesty policies, we can encourage more of them to confidently act when they find themselves or classmate in an emergency.  Our young people should be encouraged to look out for each other, not fear getting involved, especially on college campuses as they learn to become adults and members of a community. 
 
We look forward to your support for this legislation to better protect our students when they choose to do the right thing.