South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners

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LLR-Board of Medical Examiners

Approved by the Board: May 17-20, 1998 Board meeting

Service Area: Medical

Subject: Automatic External Defibrillators

POLICY:

The use of automatic external defibrillators is a medical act as defined in S.C. Code Ann. § 40-47-40 (1976 & Supp. 1997), and is therefore considered to constitute the practice of medicine. However, the AED is by nature an emergency device that may properly be used by non-medical personnel under the emergency exception set forth in S.C. Code Ann. § 40-47-60 (1) of the South Carolina Medical Practice Act. In addition, a physician may delegate the use of such devices to non-medical, minimally trained personnel under S.C. Code Ann. § 40-47-60 (5).