Good Samaritan law

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Good Samaritan laws in the United States are laws protecting from blame those who choose to aid others who are injured or ill. They are intended to reduce bystander's hesitation to assist, for fear of being prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death. In other countries good samaritan laws require reasonable action from bystanders (such as calling the authorities). The name Good Samaritan refers to the famous parable told by Jesus in the New Testament (Luke 10:33-35).

In other countries Good Samaritan laws describe laws which legally require citizens to assist people in distress, unless doing so would put themselves in harm's way. Citizens are often required to, at minimum, call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number, unless doing so would be harmful, in which case, the authorities should be contacted when the harmful situation has been removed. Such laws currently exist in countries such as Italy, Japan, France, Andorra, and Spain. The photographers at the scene of Princess Diana's fatal car accident were investigated for violation of French good samaritan law. In Germany, "Unterlassene Hilfeleistung" (neglect of duty to provide assistance) is an offense; a citizen is obliged to provide first aid when necessary and is immune from prosecution if assistance given in good faith turns out to be harmful. In Germany, knowledge of first aid is a prerequisite for the granting of a driving license.

1 In the United States
- 1.1 General guidelines
- 1.2 Consent
2 In Canada
3 In pop culture
4 References
5 External links

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In the United States

Though the details of Good Samaritan laws in various jurisdictions vary, some features are common:

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General guidelines

Unless a caretaker relationship (such as a parent-child or doctor-patient relationship) exists prior to the illness or injury, or the "Good Samaritan" is responsible for the existence of the illness or injury, no person is required to give aid of any sort to a victim.
Any first aid provided must not be in exchange for any reward or financial compensation. As a result, medical professionals are typically not protected by Good Samaritan laws when performing first aid in connection with their employment.
If aid begins, the responder must not leave the scene until:
- It is necessary in order to call for needed medical assistance.
- Somebody of equal or higher training arrives to take over.
- Continuing to give aid is unsafe (this can be as simple as a lack of adequate protection against potential diseases, such as latex gloves to protect against HIV) — a responder can never be forced to put himself or herself in danger to aid another person.
The responder is not legally liable for the death, disfigurement or disability of the victim as long as the responder acted as a rational person of the same level of training would have under the same circumstances.

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Consent

The responder must not commit assault by giving aid to a patient without consent.

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Implied consent

Consent may be implied if the patient is unconscious, delusional or intoxicated — or if the responder had a reasonable belief that this was so; courts tend to be very forgiving in adjudicating this, under the legal fiction that "peril invites rescue".

Consent may also be implied if the legal parent or guardian is not immediately reachable and the patient is not considered an adult (no matter what the patient claims).

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Parental consent

If the victim is not an adult (warning: definitions vary), consent must come from the legal parent or guardian. However, if the legal parent or guardian is absent, unconscious, delusional or intoxicated, consent is implied (with the same caveat as above). Special circumstances may exist if child abuse is suspected.

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Laws for first aiders only

In some jurisdictions, Good Samaritan laws only protect those that have had basic first aid training and are certified by the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, American Safety and Health Institute or other health organization. In other jurisdictions, any rescuer is protected from liability, granted the responder acted rationally.

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In Canada

In Canada, Good Samaritan Acts are a provincial power. Here is a list of several of the provincial acts:

Ontario - Good Samaritan Act, 2001
Alberta - Emergency Medical Aid Act
British Columbia - Good Samaritan Act
Nova Scotia - Volunteer Services Act

Only in Quebec does a person have a duty to respond. Template:Ref

An example of a typical Canadian law is provided here, from Ontario's Good Samaritan Act, 2001, section 2:

Protection from liability 2. (1) Despite the rules of common law, a person described in subsection (2) who voluntarily and without reasonable expectation of compensation or reward provides the services described in that subsection is not liable for damages that result from the person's negligence in acting or failing to act while providing the services, unless it is established that the damages were caused by the gross negligence of the person. 2001, c. 2, s. 2 (1).Template:Ref

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In pop culture

A Good Samaritan law was featured in the May 1998 series finale of the popular NBC sitcom Seinfeld, in which the show's four main characters were all prosecuted for making fun of (rather than helping) an overweight man who was getting robbed at gunpoint.

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