California Drowning Prevention and Rescue Act., the official text

An act to amend Section 1797.161 of, and to add Sections 1797.162 and 131054 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law requires specified lifeguards, firefighters, and peace officers to be trained to administer first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and requires the training to meet standards prescribed by the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Existing law requires, by January 1, 2027, a public safety agency that provides “911” call processing services for emergency medical response to provide prearrival medical instructions to “911” callers requiring medical assistance, including, among other things, CPR instructions for children and children and adults. Existing law also requires persons providing aquatic instruction at a public swimming pool to possess current certificates from an American Red Cross or a YMCA of the USA lifeguard training program, or have equivalent qualifications, as determined by the State Department of Public Health, and requires lifeguard service, as defined, to be provided for any public swimming pool that is of wholly artificial construction and for the use of which a direct fee is charged.
This bill would clarify that CPR instructions, for purposes of the above-described “911” provision, also include CPR instruction in both ventilation and chest compressions for calls that involve a drowning victim. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health, in coordination with other specified state entities, to review and update the state’s public communications efforts to ensure everyone in California is educated about the importance of CPR knowledge and how to obtain CPR training.
This bill would also require the Emergency Medical Services Authority to, on or before June 30, 2028, and biennially thereafter, submit a report to the Commission on Emergency Medical Services and the Legislature on California’s lifeguard workforce, as prescribed, to better understand and report on California’s lifeguard workforce. The bill would authorize the Emergency Medical Services Authority to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, utilize specified funds provided for these purposes in the “Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids” license plate program, and would make this provision operative only if Assembly Bill 1634 of the 2025–26 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2027.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Drowning Prevention and Rescue Act.

SEC. 2.
Section 1797.161 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1797.161.
(a) By January 1, 2027, a public safety agency that provides “911” call processing services for emergency medical response shall provide prearrival medical instructions to “911” callers requiring medical assistance, including, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) Airway and choking medical instructions for infants, children, and adults.
(2) Automatic external defibrillator (AED) and CPR instructions for children and adults, including, but not limited to, CPR instruction in both ventilation and chest compressions for calls that involve a drowning victim.
(3) Childbirth.
(4) Bleeding control and hemorrhage.
(5) Administration of epinephrine by auto-injector for suspected anaphylaxis.
(6) Administration of naloxone for suspected narcotics overdoses.
(b) A public safety agency may satisfy the requirements of subdivision (a) by contracting with another public safety agency that provides prearrival medical instructions.
(c) Prearrival medical instructions developed pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) shall be approved by the local EMS agency medical director pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 1797.223 and implemented consistent with the medical protocols and procedures adopted by the public safety agency.
(d) This section does not require a public safety agency to update its policies and procedures if the public safety agency already provides prearrival medical instructions through emergency medical dispatch or other means and those instructions have been approved by the local EMS agency medical director.
(e) A public safety agency dispatching peace officers to the scene of an emergency shall not constitute call processing services for emergency medical response for purposes of this section, even though the peace officers may administer first aid and CPR pursuant to Section 1797.183.
(f) This section shall not be construed to alter, modify, abridge, diminish, enlarge, or constrain the authority’s ability to adopt guidelines or regulations for emergency medical dispatch, including dispatcher training, under existing law, including, but not limited to, Sections 1797.103 and 1797.107.
(g) This section does not supersede Section 1797.201, 1797.223, 1798.6, or 1798.8, or Section 53110 of the Government Code.

SEC. 3.
Section 1797.162 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
1797.162.
(a) (1) The Emergency Medical Services Authority shall, on or before June 30, 2028, and biennially thereafter, submit a report to the Commission on Emergency Medical Services and the Legislature on California’s lifeguard workforce, in both the public and private sectors, to better understand and report on California’s lifeguard workforce.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(b) The goal of the report is to bring awareness and a better understanding of all of the following:
(1) The importance of the lifeguard first responder workforce in California.
(2) How lifeguards are trained and certified, including the various categories or levels of certification, where training takes place, and how training is paid for.
(3) Where lifeguards are employed across the state, what types of water venues or settings lifeguards are required to be present for the venue to be open.
(c) The report shall include all of the following information:
(1) The roles lifeguards carry out in the various places where they are stationed in California.
(2) The types of training programs that are available in California, the different types of training organizations, and where training is conducted, including whether there are training programs available in all 58 counties and the challenges for lifeguard trainers and suggested solutions to the identified challenges.
(3) The various employers of lifeguards in California.
(4) The estimated numbers of distinct types or levels of certified lifeguards at work in California, including a summary of information from lifeguard employers as to whether there are barriers and challenges regarding collecting lifeguard workforce numbers and types.
(5) A summary of information from various fire departments with embedded lifeguards, lifeguard training organizations, and employer associations of lifeguards, including public pools, park and recreation districts, YMCAs, private swim schools, fitness clubs, private clubs with pools, entities providing lifeguards to work in open bodies of water settings, including ocean fronts, lakes, and rivers, regarding all of the following:
(A) Having enough certified lifeguards available to address these employers’ needs.
(B) The impact of seasonal work on the lifeguard workforce.
(C) How liability issues are addressed regarding lifeguard workforce, including insurance issues, other ways of addressing liability, and California’s Good Samaritan law under Section 1799.102 of the Health and Safety Code.
(D) General recommendations and suggested solutions to lifeguard workforce challenges.
(E) Whether the state has a role in overseeing California’s lifeguards, and, if there is a role, what role would that be and what would be the purpose of that role.

SEC. 3.5.
Section 1797.162 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
1797.162.
(a) (1) The Emergency Medical Services Authority shall, on or before June 30, 2028, and biennially thereafter, submit a report to the Commission on Emergency Medical Services and the Legislature on California’s lifeguard workforce, in both the public and private sectors, to better understand and report on California’s lifeguard workforce.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(b) The goal of the report is to bring awareness and a better understanding of all of the following:
(1) The importance of the lifeguard first responder workforce in California.
(2) How lifeguards are trained and certified, including the various categories or levels of certification, where training takes place, and how training is paid for.
(3) Where lifeguards are employed across the state, what types of water venues or settings lifeguards are required to be present for the venue to be open.
(c) The report shall include all of the following information:
(1) The roles lifeguards carry out in the various places where they are stationed in California.
(2) The types of training programs that are available in California, the different types of training organizations, and where training is conducted, including whether there are training programs available in all 58 counties and the challenges for lifeguard trainers and suggested solutions to the identified challenges.
(3) The various employers of lifeguards in California.
(4) The estimated numbers of distinct types or levels of certified lifeguards at work in California, including a summary of information from lifeguard employers as to whether there are barriers and challenges regarding collecting lifeguard workforce numbers and types.
(5) A summary of information from various fire departments with embedded lifeguards, lifeguard training organizations, and employer associations of lifeguards, including public pools, park and recreation districts, YMCAs, private swim schools, fitness clubs, private clubs with pools, entities providing lifeguards to work in open bodies of water settings, including ocean fronts, lakes, and rivers, regarding all of the following:
(A) Having enough certified lifeguards available to address these employers’ needs.
(B) The impact of seasonal work on the lifeguard workforce.
(C) How liability issues are addressed regarding lifeguard workforce, including insurance issues, other ways of addressing liability, and California’s Good Samaritan law under Section 1799.102 of the Health and Safety Code.
(D) General recommendations and suggested solutions to lifeguard workforce challenges.
(E) Whether the state has a role in overseeing California’s lifeguards, and, if there is a role, what role would that be and what would be the purpose of that role.
(d) The Emergency Medical Services Authority may, upon appropriation by the Legislature, utilize funds provided for these purposes pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 18285 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

SEC. 4.
Section 131054 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
131054.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as provided appropriately per CPR training, immediately for drowning, heart attack, electrocution, drug overdose, or traumatic injury victims is critical to achieving the most optimal outcome for victims, with CPR for drowning involving both chest compressions and emergency breathing or ventilation.
(b) (1) The State Department of Public Health shall, in coordination with other California health and emergency services and education entities, review and update the state’s public communications efforts to ensure everyone in California is educated about the importance of CPR knowledge and how to obtain CPR training.
(2) The goal of the public communications efforts specified in paragraph (1) is to raise, by 2030, California’s knowledge of CPR from the current estimated rate of 50 percent of the adult population with knowledge about CPR and 40 percent of the adult population percent being trained in how to administer CPR, to 80 percent with knowledge about CPR and 75 percent being trained in how to administer CPR.

SEC. 5.
Section 3.5 of this bill, adding Section 1797.162 of the Health and Safety Code, shall only become operative if Assembly Bill 1634 of the 2025–26 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2027, in which case Section 3 of this bill shall not become operative.