Broadly speaking, Good Samaritan laws give legal protections to people who assist someone who is hurt, sick, or incapacitated. These types of laws exist in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. They even exist in the airspace over the country, so no doctor or well-intentioned and qualified person has to think twice about offering aid to someone in need, even on an airplane when it’s not totally clear where they are, geographically.
That’s important because Good Samaritan laws and their protections vary state to state. While the whole point of these laws is to make sure no one ever decides against helping someone in peril because they don’t want to face legal consequences, there are still a few things to consider depending on where you live. Here is a handy list of the laws in each state. Learn these things—and the laws specific to your area—now so you’re not trying to figure them out the next time you encounter an emergency.
When do Good Samaritan laws come into play?
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There are a few scenarios that spring to mind when we discuss Good Samaritan laws. In all 50 states and D.C., for instance, the laws exempt people from liability when using automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in an emergency. Basically, if someone needs the AED used on them and it falls on you but your efforts don’t work or aren’t perfectly executed, you can’t get sued or be held liable. The fear of being sued for using the equipment, doing it wrong, or not preventing a death should not stop you from trying.
These laws are also associated with drug overdoses. Almost every state has a Good Samaritan law that covers overdoses, except for Kansas, Texas, and Wyoming. In the other 47 states and D.C., these laws are in place to make sure that no one avoids calling emergency services when someone near them is experiencing an overdose. In New York, for instance, the law allows people to call 911 for an overdose without fear that they will be arrested once law enforcement shows up. (Research shows that calling 911 and contacting law enforcement when someone is overdosing is a major concern for people who use drugs, but read the laws of your state to best understand what protections you have.)
Just because your jurisdiction’s laws may protect you if you jump into action at the scene of an emergency doesn’t mean you have to give aid—unless you’re in Minnesota, Vermont, or Rhode Island. The Good Samaritan statutes in those states do require a person at the emergency scene to provide reasonable assistance to anyone in need, which can just include calling 911. This subdivision is known as “duty to assist,” and failing to assist could result in a misdemeanor or fine, depending where you are.
Moreover, a court could take the legal principle of imminent peril into consideration to determine if a Good Samaritan law covers you. If there was an accident or incident of some kind but the person wasn’t in imminent peril and you sought to give them aid anyway, hurting them in the process, you could be held accountable for that. Don’t let that dissuade you from helping out in a real emergency, of course, but take a split second to assess if you’re actually at the scene of one.
How do Good Samaritan laws impact medical professionals?
Every state except for Kentucky provides legal coverage for a licensed physician who has to provide emergency care, even if they’re not licensed in that state. (In Kentucky, doctors can still provide emergency care under Good Samaritan laws, but they have to be licensed in Kentucky to do it.)
Through the laws, doctors are largely immune from civil liability if they render emergency care. Typically, physicians have legal immunity to claims of ordinary negligence, but not willful or wanton negligence. Check the laws of your state carefully. For instance, if a physician has a pre-existing duty to provide care to the person—like if that person is already their patient or the doctor is on-call when the emergency goes down—Good Samaritan laws may not apply. Some states, like Colorado, enable the laws to cover care rendered in a hospital setting if it’s outside the physician’s normal scope of responsibilities. Again, read your state’s laws carefully.
What are consent and implied consent all about?
When researching what the laws are in your state, you’ll come across the phrases “consent” and “implied consent.”
Implied consent comes into play if the victim or patient is intoxicated, delusional, unresponsive, or otherwise unfit to confirm that yes, you can give them aid. If someone isn’t in a position to to make decisions about their own safety or you have enough reason to believe they aren’t, go ahead. This same principle applies if the person needing aid is a minor and their guardian isn’t around to give you consent or if the guardian themselves is unconscious, intoxicated, or otherwise unable to consent.
In the event a guardian doesn’t give consent, you don’t have to stop yourself from rendering aid, like giving the Heimlich maneuver or CPR, because in that case, the guardian is often considered to have neglected the minor.
The basic facts about Good Samaritan laws
Overall, for these laws to be applied and for you to be free to give aid, the situation at hand has to be an emergency, your services must be voluntary, and you have to get consent whenever possible. You can’t charge for your aid and you have to be acting in good faith.
Note, too, that you could still end up named in a lawsuit and may end up going to court. Don’t panic about that; this is what the laws are for.
The point is that if something terrible happens and you’re around, the courts would rather you intervene in good faith than stand back and fret about whether you’ll get charged with battery or be in legal trouble for, say, having illegal substances around. If you are at the scene of an emergency, do something about it. Call 911, do the Heimlich, bust out that AED, or give CPR. Just read up on your state’s laws now so you’re as informed as possible about your rights and expectations.