---
title: SB 399. "Mason Sells AED Coordination Act"; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb399
cite_as: SB 399, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb399
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb399.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb399/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72208
date: 2026-05-11
status: passed
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb398.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb400.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 996
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb399.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 399
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-05-11
last_action: Effective Date 2026-07-01
sponsors:
  - Marty Harbin
  - John Albers
  - Bo Hatchett
  - Max Burns
  - Jason Anavitarte
  - Jason T. Dickerson
  - Russ Goodman
  - Chuck Hufstetler
  - Ricky Williams
  - Lee Anderson
  - Kay Kirkpatrick
  - Josh Bonner
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB399/2025
upstream_id: 2080474
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - automated external defibrillators
  - 911 dispatch
  - emergency medical services
  - first responder liability
  - public safety training
---

# SB 399. "Mason Sells AED Coordination Act"; enact

## Text

Senate Bill 399
By: Senators Harbin of the 16th, Albers of the 56th, Hatchett of the 50th, Burns of the 23rd,
Anavitarte of the 31st and others
AS PASSED
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 3 of Chapter 11 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to personnel of emergency medical services, so as to provide for notification to
public safety answering points about the location of automated external defibrillators; to
provide for training; to amend Chapter 8 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to employment and training of peace officers, so as to provide for
training of communications officers to facilitate the use of automated external defibrillators;
to provide for definitions; to provide for related matters; to provide for a short title; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ''Mason Sells AED Coordination Act.''
SECTION 2.
Article 3 of Chapter 11 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
personnel of emergency medical services, is amended by revising Code Section 31-11-53.1,
relating to automated external defibrillator program, establishment, regulations, and liability,
as follows:
"31-11-53.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) <ins>'Agency' means every state department, agency, division, board, bureau, commission,
or entity, including without limitation the Board of Regents of the University System of
Georgia.
</ins> <del>(1)(2)</del> 'Automated external defibrillator' means a defibrillator which:
(A) Is capable of cardiac rhythm analysis;
(B) Will charge and be capable of being activated to deliver a countershock after
electrically detecting the presence of certain cardiac dysrhythmias; and
(C) Is capable of continuous recording of the cardiac dysrhythmia at the scene with a
mechanism for transfer and storage or for printing for review subsequent to use.
<del>(2)(3)</del> 'Defibrillation' means to terminate ventricular fibrillation.
<del>(3)(4)</del> 'First responder' means any person or agency who provides on-site care until the
arrival of a duly licensed ambulance service. This shall include, but not be limited to,
persons who routinely respond to calls for assistance through an affiliation with law
enforcement agencies, fire suppression agencies, rescue agencies, and others.
<ins>(5) 'Person' means any firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other private entity,
including without limitation any private postsecondary school, college, or university in
this state.
(6) 'Public safety answering point' shall have the same meaning as provided in Code
Section 46-5-122.
</ins> (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that an automated external defibrillator may
be used by any person for the purpose of saving the life of another person in cardiac arrest.
In order to ensure public health and safety:
(1) It is recommended that all persons who have access to or use an automated external
defibrillator obtain appropriate training <del>as set forth in the rules and regulations of the
Department of Public Health</del> <ins>from the American Red Cross, the American Heart
Association, or other nationally recognized training.</ins> It is further recommended that such
training include at a minimum the successful completion of:
(A) A nationally recognized health care provider/professional rescuer level
cardiopulmonary resuscitation course; and
(B) A <del>department established or approved</del> <ins>nationally recognized</ins> course which includes
demonstrated proficiency in the use of an automated external defibrillator;
(2) All persons and agencies possessing and maintaining an automated external
defibrillator shall notify the appropriate <del>emergency medical services system</del> <ins>public safety
answering point</ins> of the existence and location of the automated external defibrillator prior
to said defibrillator being placed in use. <ins>The department is authorized to promulgate
rules and regulations to implement this provision; and
</ins> (3) All persons who use an automated external defibrillator shall activate the emergency
medical services system as soon as reasonably possible by calling 9-1-1 or the
appropriate emergency telephone number upon use of the automated external
defibrillator; <del>and
(4) Within a reasonable period of time, all persons who use an automated external
defibrillator shall make available a printed or electronically stored report to the licensed
emergency medical services provider which transports the patient.
</del> (c) <ins>With the exception of communications officers under Code Section 35-8-23, who shall
complete training as set forth in such Code section,</ins> <del>All</del> <ins>all</ins> persons who provide instruction
to others in the use of the automated external defibrillator shall have completed <del>an</del> <ins>a
nationally recognized</ins> instructor course <del>established or approved by the department.
(d) The department shall establish an automated external defibrillator program for use by
emergency medical technicians. Such program shall be subject to the direct supervision
</del>
<del>of a medical adviser approved under Code Section 31-11-50. No emergency medical
technician shall be authorized to use an automated external defibrillator to defibrillate a
person unless that defibrillator is a properly maintained automated external defibrillator and
that emergency medical technician:
(1) Submits to and has approved by the department an application for such use, and in
considering that application the department may obtain and use the recommendation of
the local coordinating entity for the health district in which the applicant will use such
defibrillator;
(2) Successfully completes an automated external defibrillator training program
established or approved by the department;
(3) Is subject to protocols requiring that both the emergency physician who receives a
patient defibrillated by that emergency medical technician and the medical adviser for the
defibrillator program review the department required prehospital care report and any
other documentation of the defibrillation of any person by that emergency medical
technician and send a written report of such review to the district EMS medical director
of the health district in which the defibrillation occurred; and
(4) Obtains a passing score on an annual automated external defibrillator proficiency
exam given in connection with that program.
(e) It shall not be necessary for a licensed emergency medical service, licensed neonatal
transport service, or other services licensed by the department which provide care
administered by cardiac technicians or paramedics to obtain department approval for the
use of an automated external defibrillator on licensed vehicles.
(f) Any emergency medical technician who violates the provisions of this Code section
shall be subject to having revoked by the department that person's authority to use an
automated external defibrillator. Such a violation shall also be grounds for any entity
which issues a license or certificate authorizing such emergency medical technician to
perform emergency medical services to take disciplinary action against such person,
</del>
<del>including but not limited to suspension or revocation of that license or certificate. Such a
violation shall also be grounds for the employer of such emergency medical technician to
impose any sanction available thereto, including but not limited to dismissal.
(g)(d)</del> Any first responder who gratuitously and in good faith renders emergency care or
treatment by the use of or provision of an automated external defibrillator, without
objection of the injured victim or victims thereof, shall not be held liable for any civil
damages as a result of such care or treatment or as a result of any act or failure to act in
providing or arranging further medical treatment where the person acts without gross
negligence or intent to harm or as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted
under the same or similar circumstances, even if such individual does so without benefit
of the appropriate training. This provision includes paid persons who extend care or
treatment without expectation of remuneration from the patient or victim for receiving the
defibrillation care or treatment."
SECTION 3.
Chapter 8 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to employment and
training of peace officers, is amended in Code Section 35-8-23, relating to basic training
course for communications officers, certification requirements, duties of council, and rules
and regulations, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:
<ins>"(g) On and after January 1, 2028, all communications officers shall be required to
successfully complete training in the delivery of high-quality telephone cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (T-CPR) and instructions to facilitate the use of automated external
defibrillators in addition to the basic training otherwise required by this Code section, and
on or after that date no person shall be certified by the council under this Code section
unless such person has satisfactorily completed such training; provided, however, that the
requirements of this subsection shall be satisfied by any communications officer who is
certified in emergency medical dispatch, as such term is defined in Code Section 38-3-181.
</ins>
<ins>Such training shall follow the most current evidence based nationally recognized guidelines
for high-quality telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation which incorporate recognition
protocols for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, compression-only cardiopulmonary
resuscitation, and continuing education."
</ins> SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

Named for Mason Sells, this Georgia Senate bill would require anyone who owns an automated external defibrillator (AED) to notify local 911 dispatch centers of its location, and would require 911 communications officers to get CPR-assistance training by 2028.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia law already encourages people who have automated external defibrillators (AEDs), the devices used to shock a heart back into rhythm during cardiac arrest, to get training and report their equipment. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53.1) to require anyone who owns or maintains an AED to tell the local public safety answering point, meaning the 911 dispatch center, where the device is located before it's ever put into use. It also drops the old requirement that training come from the Department of Public Health and instead says training should come from the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or another nationally recognized program.
The bill repeals the old emergency medical technician AED certification and disciplinary process, keeping mainly the liability protection for first responders who use an AED in good faith. Separately, it amends Georgia's peace officer training law (O.C.G.A. § 35-8-23) so that starting January 1, 2028, all 911 communications officers must complete training in telephone CPR instructions and AED guidance, unless they are already certified in emergency medical dispatch. The bill is named the 'Mason Sells AED Coordination Act.'

### What it does

- Requires anyone who owns or maintains an automated external defibrillator (AED) to notify the local 911 dispatch center of its location before the device is used.
- Replaces the requirement that AED training come from the Department of Public Health with a recommendation to use the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or other nationally recognized training programs.
- Removes the state's old emergency medical technician AED certification program, its annual proficiency exam, and related disciplinary rules.
- Requires all 911 communications officers, starting January 1, 2028, to complete training in telephone CPR guidance and helping callers use AEDs, unless already certified in emergency medical dispatch.
- Keeps legal protection from civil lawsuits for first responders who use an AED in good faith without gross negligence.
- Gives the Department of Public Health authority to write rules implementing the AED location notification requirement.

### Who it affects

AED owners such as businesses, schools, gyms, and private colleges; 911 dispatch centers and the communications officers who staff them; emergency medical technicians and first responders who use AEDs; and the Department of Public Health and the peace officer training council, which oversee these requirements.

### Why it matters

By requiring AED locations to be logged with 911 dispatchers and training dispatchers in phone-guided CPR and AED use, the bill aims to help 911 callers act faster during a cardiac emergency, potentially improving survival chances before an ambulance arrives.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 names the bill the 'Mason Sells AED Coordination Act.'
- Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 31-11-53.1, adding definitions for 'agency,' 'person,' and 'public safety answering point,' and requiring AED owners to report device locations to the local 911 dispatch center before use.
- Section 2 also shifts recommended AED training away from Department of Public Health-approved courses to nationally recognized programs like the Red Cross or American Heart Association.
- Section 2 removes the prior emergency medical technician AED certification program, department-run proficiency exams, and related disciplinary provisions.
- Section 2 preserves civil liability protection for first responders who use an AED in good faith without gross negligence or intent to harm.
- Section 3 adds a new subsection to O.C.G.A. § 35-8-23 requiring communications officers to complete telephone CPR and AED-assistance training by January 1, 2028, with an exemption for those already certified in emergency medical dispatch.
- Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-05-11)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-07-01 (2026-05-11)
- Sponsors: Marty Harbin, John Albers, Bo Hatchett, Max Burns, Jason Anavitarte, Jason T. Dickerson, Russ Goodman, Chuck Hufstetler, Ricky Williams, Lee Anderson, Kay Kirkpatrick, Josh Bonner
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72208

> The history, votes, and amendments (996 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb399.md?full=1