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Briefing

AB 2260 Requires Trauma Kits for Buildings Constructed on or After January 1, 2023

On September 27, 2022, Governor Newsom signed AB 2260 known as the “Tactical Response of Traumatic Injuries Act” into law regarding the need for buildings constructed on or after January 1, 2023, with an occupancy of 200 or more, to supply “trauma kits” for people to render emergency care or treatment. According to the bill’s author, Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona), “ensuring trauma kits are available in public settings will ensure bystanders, who often act as immediate responders, can render emergency care to increase a victim’s chance of survival.”

Applicable Buildings

AB 2260 applies to structures constructed on or after January 1, 2023, including those owned and operated by a local government entity. However, the applicability of AB 2260 depends on the structure’s occupancy. Trauma kits will be required in assembly buildings with an occupancy of greater than 300, and will also be required in business, educational, factory, institutional, mercantile, and residential (excluding single-family and multifamily dwelling units) buildings with an occupancy of 200 or more. A trauma kit will not be required where the structure is vacant, being renovated, or under construction.

According to California’s Building Standards Code, building types are defined in the categories as follows:

• Assembly Group A – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for gathering of persons for purposes such as civic, social, or religious functions, recreation, food, or during consumption or motion picture and television production sound stages, approved production facilities and production locations.
• Business Group B – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for office, professional, or service-type transactions, including storage of records and accounts.
• Educational Group E – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, by more than six persons at any one time for educational purposes through the 12^th grade, except for a residence used as a home school for the children who reside there.
• Factory Industrial Group F – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for assembling, dissembling, fabricating, finishing, manufacturing, packaging, repair or processing operations, not classified as hazardous or storage occupancy.
• Institutional Group I – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, in which care or supervision is provided to persons who are or are not capable of self-perseveration without physical assistance or in which persons are detained for penal or correctional purposes or in which the liberty of the occupants is restricted.
• Mercantile Group M – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for the display and sale of merchandise and involves stocks of goods, wares, or merchandise incidental to such purposes and accessible to the public.
• Residential Group R – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for sleeping purposes when not classified in the institutional group or not regulated by the California Residential Code.
• Storage Group S – includes, among others, the use of a building or structure, or portion thereof, for storage that is not classified as a hazardous occupancy.

However, AB 2260 will not apply to general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, or special hospitals.

Trauma Kits

There are specific items that the trauma kits must contain. The trauma kits must contain, at a minimum, the following:

• One tourniquet endorsed by the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care
• One bleeding control bandage
• One pair of nonlatex protective gloves and a marker
• One pair of scissors
• Instructional documents developed by the Stop the Bleed national awareness campaign or the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, the American Red Cross, the Committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care, or any other partner of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Additional supplemental items that are used to adequately treat a traumatic injury and are stored in a readily available kit may be included if they are approved by the medical director of the local emergency medical services agency.

Civil Liability

AB 2260 absolves a person or entity from civil liability who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency care or treatment using the trauma kit at the scene of the emergency. Furthermore, a property managing entity is not liable for civil damages resulting from the failure, improper operations, malfunction of equipment, or materials within a properly stocked trauma kit. It is important to note that the trauma kit must be properly stocked for civil liability not to attach. Therefore, a person or entity responsible for managing the building shall do the following:

• Acquire and place at least six (6) trauma kits available on the premises of the building or facility placed in an easily accessible and recognizable container located next to an automated external defibrillator (AED).
• Inspect all trauma kits every three (3) years from the date of installation to ensure that the materials supplies, and equipment are not expired.
• Replace any expired or missing materials, supplies, and equipment as necessary.
• Restock the trauma kit after each use and replace any materials, supplies, and equipment as necessary.
• At least once per year, notify tenants of the buildings or structures of the location of the trauma kits and provide information to tenants regarding contact information for training in the use of the trauma kit.

Training in the Use of the Trauma Kits

To comply with the notification requirements, property managers may direct tenants to contact one or multiple sources of the following for training in the use of the trauma kit:

• Stop the Bleed national awareness campaign
• The American Red Cross
• The committee for Tactical Emergency Casualty Care
• Any other partner of the US department of Defense
• Keenan IMReady
• Any reputable providers

The provisions in AB 2260 are set to begin on January 1, 2023. It should be noted that aside from the provisions in AB 2260, which apply to building owners, employers are still required to maintain a first aid kit and, in the absence of an onsite infirmary, provide training to a person or persons to render first aid as per the Department of Industrial Relations regulations (8 CCR 3400).

AP Keenan is not a law firm and no opinion, suggestion, or recommendation of the firm or its employees shall constitute legal advice. Clients are advised to consult with their own attorney for a determination of their legal rights, responsibilities, and liabilities, including the interpretation of any statute or regulation, or its application to the clients’ business activities.