Understanding Good Samaritan Law Protection
You’re driving on the highway and come upon the scene of an accident. Someone is injured, and first responders haven’t arrived yet. You stop to help the victim, and despite your reasonable efforts, you injure them. Can they sue you for their injuries? And if they do, can you use “I was trying to help” as a defense?
The answer to both questions is yes. The victim can sue you, but (as long as you meet the elements of the laws in your state), you will likely be protected under your state’s Good Samaritan law.
This article will explore the general concept of Good Samaritan laws, what they require, whom they protect, and more.
Good Samaritan Law Explained
The term Good Samaritan comes from the biblical story about a person from Samaria (a Samaritan) who helped an injured person after many others had walked past him without assisting.
Good Samaritan laws protect bystanders who provide care in an emergency situation (such as at the scene of an accident) from civil liability in the event some aspect of the emergency care goes wrong. For example, if you break a person’s rib while providing CPR, the Good Samaritan law provides you with a defense if the person sues you over their broken rib.
States have implemented Good Samaritan laws to encourage bystanders to help victims in emergency situations. Because there is generally no legal duty for a bystander to help a victim, states feared that if there were a risk that someone could be found criminally or civilly liable for helping, most people wouldn’t stop to help. The existence of Good Samaritan laws makes it more likely that victims will receive the help they need until first responders can reach the scene.
A Few Notes on Good Samaritan Laws
Good Samaritan laws won’t keep you from being sued. Instead, they serve as a defense you can use if you are sued.
The Good Samaritan defense doesn’t provide absolute immunity; rather, it applies as long as certain elements are met.
A Good Samaritan law may not protect you from criminal liability. The California, Connecticut, and Indiana laws, for example, expressly provide a defense only for civil liability and are silent as to criminal liability.
Elements of Good Samaritan Laws
Good Samaritan laws are governed by individual states rather than by the federal government. In the U.S., all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., have Good Samaritan laws, with the details of those laws varying across jurisdictions. This article addresses the elements common to most Good Samaritan laws.
As the California legislature has explained in Section (b)(1) of that state’s law, the intent of the law is “to encourage other individuals to volunteer, without compensation, to assist others in need during an emergency, while ensuring that those volunteers who provide care or assistance act responsibly.”
To balance the need for people to volunteer their help with the need to ensure victims are not further hurt, most Good Samaritan laws require the following elements to be met:
The situation must be an emergency.
The carer must act voluntarily (for example, they must not be under some legal duty to help).
The victim must consent to the assistance, if capable.
The carer must not engage in gross negligence or willful misconduct.
The carer must not accept (or request) payment in exchange for providing help.
If these elements are not all met, a bystander who further injures a victim while providing emergency care will not receive the benefit of the Good Samaritan defense and may be found civilly liable for damages they cause.
A Closer Look at Each Element
Emergency situation: A car accident, someone choking on food in a restaurant, or a person suffering a heart attack are good examples of the types of emergencies contemplated under Good Samaritan laws. In general, if first responders are on their way, the situation is likely an emergency, and care provided before the responders arrive is likely to be covered.
Voluntary act: The carer must not have a pre-existing duty to help the victim. For example, as the language of the California, Connecticut, and Indiana laws implies, it’s the job of first responders on duty — and medical personnel on duty and in their specific clinic or hospital — to help accident victims (so the assistance they give is not voluntary). In addition, if you’re the one who caused the accident, you may now be under a legal duty to help, and care you offer may not be viewed as voluntary.
Consent of victim: In general, a person must consent before anyone may provide them with care. If the victim is unconscious, consent is generally implied. If a child is the one in need and a parent is present, the parent must provide consent.
Good faith: In general, the concept of good faith means acting honestly, fairly, and without the intent to harm or take advantage of someone.
Lack of gross negligence or willful misconduct: Although bystanders generally don’t have a duty to help, once they begin to provide aid, they have a duty to provide that aid with reasonable care.
Generally, this means ordinary negligence will be protected under the act (something the California, Connecticut, and Indiana laws all expressly state), but gross negligence and willful misconduct will not (as the California and Indiana laws call out expressly).
In the context of a bystander providing voluntary emergency care:
Ordinary negligence refers to mistakes a reasonable person might make in trying to help, such as cracking someone’s ribs during the performance of CPR.
Gross negligence refers to mistakes that show the carer had a conscious disregard for the victim’s safety and that disregard led to a foreseeable injury. As an example, breaking the victim’s leg by dragging them away from a safe accident scene, instead of leaving the victim in place, would fall into this category.
Providing care that isn’t necessary (such as performing CPR on someone who is already breathing) and providing care beyond the helper’s training (such as a nonmedically trained person trying to establish an airway by using a pen as a tracheotomy) is likely to be seen as gross negligence.
Willful misconduct refers to a person who sets out to cause harm to another.
Lack of payment: If the carer requests or receives payment from the victim, the defense will not apply.
Limitations of the Good Samaritan Law
Good Samaritan laws generally will not protect carers in the following situations:
Failure to meet all components listed in the above section
The precise components to be met will vary by state, so it’s important to understand the laws where you live.
Assisting while under the influence
Certain medical personnel, in certain situations
For example, an on-duty ER doctor providing care in the emergency room, or an on-duty EMT providing care in an ambulance, will not be covered.
State Law Differences Keep Lawyers on Their Toes
Future lawyers should review and understand their particular state’s Good Samaritan law so they are prepared to advise clients who stop to help those in need.
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