Community Corner

Assembly Unanimously Passes Good Samaritan Law

The JTB Foundation has been lobbying for a liability shield for those who use defibrillators.

After unanimously clearing the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Services Committee at the start of the month the AED Good Samaritan Bill would protect good Samaritans who use an automated external defibrillator while attempting to save someone’s life from civil liability was approved Feb. 13 by the full Senate.

The bill was passed by the Senate with a vote of 37-1 Tuesday and passed the Assembly unanimously 75-0 Thursday.

Many credit the progression of the bill to feedback from the John Taylor Babbitt (JTB) Foundation, whose mission is make sure that an AED is available near all public assemblies. For her part, JoAnne Babbitt, a Chatham resident, downplays that talk. "We are just one voice representing many," Babbitt said.

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The Vice-President of the foundation said she and her compatriots knocked on the doors of every Senate office until someone let them in. "We were fortunate the Joe Vitale listened to us," she said.

Babbitt got involved after her foundation and like-minded civic groups ran into difficulty getting municipalities, churches and schools to accept their AED donations. "We literally couldn't give these things away," Babbitt said.

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Bill and Carol Nauta worked with Atlantic Health and the JTB Foundation to get AEDs installed in athetic fields and at and . "They're in the schools, in the gyms, and we just felt it was important to have them in the fields," said Carol, the deputy director of Chatham Recreation.

Nauta said the defibrillators are brought outside "when the weather breaks, usually in April" and are kept out until winter, "because they're temperature-sensitive."

The JTB Foundation, Nauta said, continues to provide training for the AEDs. "They've been wonderful to work with," she said. "If we need help or financing or anything, they do whatever they can to help us."

Bill Nauta, 's emergency management coordinator, said the School District of the Chathams also installed AEDs in some schools. Two more were put into the .

The law, once signed, "is going to make it clear-cut that anybody can use one of [the machines] now without fear of liability," Bill said.

Should Gov. Chris Christie sign the law, New Jersey will become the 44th state with a Good Samaritan law, Nauta said.


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