Permits EMT, paramedic, or investigator for county medical examiner's office to make determination and pronouncement of death under certain circumstances.

This New Jersey bill (S 2099) permits emergency medical technicians (EMTs), mobile intensive care paramedics, and county medical examiner investigators to legally determine and pronounce death in specific emergency settings. It applies only when death occurs at home, in a motor vehicle accident, or during disasters (fire, flood, etc.), no physician or nurse is present, and clear signs of death are evident (such as decapitation, rigor mortis, or absence of heart activity). These personnel must either sign the death certificate or report the pronouncement to a physician or medical examiner. The bill updates existing law to expand who can formally certify death in critical situations where immediate medical professionals are unavailable.