SB 58: "Georgia Transporting Life-Saving Organs and Personnel Act"; enact

Georgia law already regulates ambulance services and defines who can drive with emergency lights and speed. This bill, called the Georgia Transporting Life-Saving Organs and Personnel Act, adds a new category called an emergency organ transport vehicle: any motor vehicle used to rush necessary personnel, organs, tissue, or medical supplies to a time-critical organ transplant procedure. It folds this new category into Georgia's ambulance licensing law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 11 of Title 31), requiring these vehicles to get an ambulance service license, carry the same minimum insurance as ambulances, and meet the Department of Public Health's vehicle standards. The bill exempts these vehicles from the Emergency Medical Systems Communications Program review and from the requirement to have a medical adviser, since they carry organs rather than patients. It lets their drivers use emergency vehicle privileges (lights, sirens, some traffic exemptions) under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6, and it exempts them from having to get a separate emergency vehicle permit from the Department of Public Safety, similar to how licensed ambulances are already treated.

• Creates a new legal category, 'emergency organ transport vehicle,' for vehicles that rush personnel, organs, tissue, or medical supplies to a time-critical transplant.
• Requires these vehicles to be licensed as an ambulance service, including a description of the vehicle and its insignia in the license application.
• Requires these vehicles to carry the same minimum insurance coverage as ambulances and to meet the Department of Public Health's vehicle standards.
• Exempts these vehicles from Emergency Medical Systems Communications Program review and from the requirement to have a medical adviser.
• Lets drivers of these vehicles use emergency vehicle privileges (such as lights and limited traffic exemptions) under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6 while transporting organs.
• Exempts these vehicles from having to obtain a separate emergency vehicle permit from the Department of Public Safety, the same treatment given to licensed ambulances.

Organizations that transport organs, tissue, medical supplies, or transplant teams to time-critical procedures; ambulance service licensing officials at the Department of Public Health; the Department of Public Safety, which issues emergency vehicle permits; and hospitals and patients involved in organ transplants who depend on fast, reliable transport.

Organ transport is time-sensitive because organs can only survive outside the body for a limited window. By treating these transport vehicles like ambulances, with licensing, insurance rules, and emergency vehicle privileges, the bill aims to let them move through traffic faster and be tracked and regulated similarly to existing ambulance services.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Georgia Transporting Life-Saving Organs and Personnel Act.'
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-11-2 to define 'emergency organ transport vehicle' and to include organ transport within the definition of 'ambulance service.'
• Section 3 exempts emergency organ transport vehicles from the Emergency Medical Systems Communications (EMSC) Program review process under O.C.G.A. § 31-11-3.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-11-7 to let drivers of emergency organ transport vehicles operate as emergency vehicles under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-6 while transporting organs.
• Section 5 adds a requirement to the ambulance service license application (O.C.G.A. § 31-11-31) for a description of the emergency organ transport vehicle's make, model, and identifying features.
• Section 6 requires emergency organ transport vehicles to carry the same minimum insurance coverage as ambulances under O.C.G.A. § 31-11-33.
• Section 7 requires emergency organ transport vehicles to meet the Department of Public Health's ambulance standards under O.C.G.A. § 31-11-34.
• Section 8 exempts organ transport services from the medical adviser requirement in O.C.G.A. § 31-11-50.

1. 2025-07-01Effective Date
2. 2025-05-09Act 83
3. 2025-05-09Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-07Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-03-21House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-03-21House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-03-11House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-02-20House Second Readers (House)

• John Albers (R, SD-56)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-52)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-32)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-1)
• John F. Kennedy (R, SD-18)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-13)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-4)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-47)
• Max Burns (R, SD-23)
• Rick Williams (R, SD-25)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-46)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-54)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-49)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-11)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-30)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-48)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-16)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-8)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-24)
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 18, 2025

   53 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 3 excused)

   PASSAGE: Senate Vote #59

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 21, 2025

   161 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 13 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #296

• organ transplant transport
• ambulance licensing
• emergency vehicles
• public health regulation
• traffic law