SB 582: Coroners; the pronouncement of death by paramedics and emergency medical technicians; authorize

Under current Georgia law, only certain people, such as physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses acting under specific code sections, can officially pronounce someone dead. Coroners and county medical examiners can also delegate some death-scene duties to qualified medical personnel in limited situations, such as highway accidents that snarl traffic. This bill adds paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to the group of people who can pronounce death, but only when a coroner or medical examiner has specifically delegated that authority to them. It also updates a separate Georgia Code section on the criteria for pronouncing death so it lists paramedics and EMTs alongside the other authorized professionals, and it removes the second listed criterion for death (irreversible cessation of all brain function) from that section, leaving irreversible loss of circulatory and respiratory function as the standard named there. Anyone who acts in good faith under these rules would be protected from civil and criminal liability.

• Adds a new provision letting paramedics and EMTs pronounce death, but only when a coroner or medical examiner has delegated that specific authority to them.
• Grants legal immunity from civil and criminal liability to paramedics and EMTs who pronounce death in good faith under this delegated authority.
• Updates Georgia's general death-pronouncement law (O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16) to add paramedics and EMTs to the list of professionals who can pronounce death.
• Removes the listed criterion of 'irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem' from the criteria section, leaving irreversible loss of circulatory and respiratory function as the named standard.
• Keeps existing rules letting coroners delegate death-related duties to local medical examiners, forensic consultants, and medical personnel at major highway accidents.

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians statewide, county coroners and medical examiners who decide whether to delegate pronouncement authority, hospitals and EMS agencies, and families and law enforcement who rely on an official pronouncement of death at a scene.

If enacted, EMS workers could officially pronounce death on scene once a coroner or medical examiner authorizes it, potentially speeding up how quickly a death is documented without requiring a physician or nurse to respond. The change to the criteria section also narrows the death definition listed there to circulatory and respiratory failure.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 45-16-23 to add new paragraphs (3) and (4), authorizing paramedics and EMTs (as defined in O.C.G.A. § 31-11-2) to pronounce death only when a coroner or medical examiner has delegated that power.
• Section 1 also grants good-faith immunity from civil and criminal liability to anyone acting under this new delegation authority.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16 to add paramedics and EMTs authorized under Section 45-16-23 to the list of people who can pronounce death.
• Section 2 removes the listed criterion referencing irreversible cessation of all brain function, leaving irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory function as the named standard in that Code section.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-25Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• John Albers (R, SD-056)

• coroners
• emergency medical services
• death pronouncement
• EMT and paramedic authority
• medical liability