Commission debates liability of race medical training; Silver State Race Medics request denied

The Nevada Commission on Off-Highway Vehicles declined on May 29 to fund a Silver State Race Medics proposal for safety and medical training, after commissioners and other meeting participants raised legal concerns about training volunteers who would be expected to provide care at sanctioned races.

Marvin, a presenter for the applicant, told the commission the organization provides CPR and first-aid instruction tailored for field conditions and said the group supplies volunteer medics and medics on dirt bikes for races. "The liability for us has to do with because we're a nonprofit organization, we fall under the Good Samaritan rule," Marvin said during his presentation. He added that many volunteers hold basic or advanced BLS certifications and that the group does not provide Advanced Life Support in the field.

Commissioners and other meeting speakers pushed back on whether the commission could lawfully fund training that would be used in organized racing events. One commenter with race-medicine experience said funding training for people who are expected to provide care at a contracted or scheduled event can change the legal classification of that care and expose the state and commission to risk because the protection of Nevada's Good Samaritan statute applies only to uncompensated, unexpected aid. The commenter urged the commission to distinguish between general public first-aid education (which can reasonably be funded) and training that prepares people to serve as medical staff at sanctioned race events (which carries different insurance and legal requirements).

Commissioners noted specific gaps in the applicant’s public record. Chair Maurice White and others flagged missing or incomplete landowner letters and application pages posted to the public portal; the commissioners said they must base their votes on the materials publicly posted for the meeting.

Why it matters: Off-road races frequently rely on on-site medical support; whether volunteers, contractors or county emergency services provide that support affects insurance, licensing and liability. Commissioners said they were sympathetic to training that improves safety for users in the field but that OHP funds should not expose the commission or the state to legal risk when training is explicitly tied to expected race duties.

Outcome: The commission voted not to fund the Silver State Race Medics request. Commissioners and staff asked the applicant to rework any future request to make clear it supports public, unexpected-emergency training (general first aid/CPR) rather than training people to serve as contracted/sanctioned race medical staff, and to provide complete landowner and site documentation on the public record.

Provenance: The group’s presentation and follow-up legal and policy discussion are recorded in the meeting transcript (presentation began at the start of the transcript and later legal discussion took place after substantial deliberations).