Good Samaritain Act

GOOD SAMARITAN LAWS

Pennsylvania Good Samaritan Law:

New Jersey Good Samaritan Law:

Pennsylvania now has a Good Samaritan law to protect bystanders who help someone in an emergency. On Thursday, Governor Tom Corbett signed the bill which extends protection to people who aid someone in an emergency using CPR and AEDs, and to businesses who place an AED on their premises.

"Nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually nationwide, and many victims appear healthy with no known heart disease or other risk factors," said Jen Ebersole, Government Relations Director for the American Heart Association. "Effective bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim's chance of survival, but only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander."

In Pennsylvania, an outdated Good Samaritan law failed to protect from personal liability bystanders and non-medical emergency response providers who perform CPR or aid someone in an emergency, and businesses who wish to place automatic external defibrillators (AED) on their premises. The new law fixes such unintended loopholes and will bring Pennsylvania among the 36 other states who have similar protections for good Samaritans.

Maryland Good Samaritan Law:

Courts and Judicial Proceedings §5-309(a) A person described in subsection (b) of this section is not civilly liable for any act or omission in giving any assistance or medical care, if:

(1) The act or omission is not one of gross negligence;
(2) The assistance or medical care is provided without fee or other compensation; and
(3) The assistance or medical care is provided:
(i) At the scene of an emergency;(ii) In transit to a medical facility; or(iii) Through communications with personnel providing emergency assistance.
(b) Subsection (a) of this section applies to the following:
(1) An individual who is licensed by this State to provide medical care;
(2) A member of any State, county, municipal, or volunteer fire department, ambulance and rescue squad or law enforcement agency or of the National Ski Patrol System, or a corporate fire department responding to a call outside of its corporate premises, if the member:
(i) Has completed an American Red Cross course in advanced first aid and has a current card showing that status;(ii) Has completed an equivalent of an American Red Cross course in advanced first aid, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene; or(iii) Is certified by this State as an emergency medical technician or cardiac rescue technician;
(3) A volunteer fire department, ambulance and rescue squad whose members have immunity;
(4) A corporation when its fire department personnel are immune under paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(c) An individual who is not covered otherwise by this section is not civilly liable for any act or omission in providing assistance or medical aid to a victim at the scene of an emergency, if:
(1) The assistance or aid is provided in a reasonably prudent manner;w(2) The assistance or aid is provided without fee or other compensation; and(3) The individual relinquishes care of the victim when someone who is licensed or certified by this State to provide medical care or services becomes available to take responsibility

Immunized from civil liability - Any Good Samaritan rendering care (in good faith and without thought of consideration) at the scene of an accident or emergency or while transporting the victim for further treatment; in a health care facility if your actual duty, including on call duty, doesn’t require a response to a patient emergency situation. Immunity is granted from liability for failure to inform when emergent situation necessitates action in absence of the ability to properly inform the patient or an authorized representative. Not immune from liability are acts or omissions by you in such situations which are determined to involve gross negligence, recklessness or willful misconduct

Delaware Good Samaritan Law:

Note: One section of the DE Code provides for (a) liability exemption and (b) and ALS standards committee. The section is broken into subparts (a) and (b) for each item. Since subpart (b) is lengthy and does not deal with immunity, only subpart (a) is quoted.

16 Del.C. §6801 [subpart (a) only]
Persons rendering emergency care exempt from liability; Advanced Life Support Standards Committee.
(A) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of any public or private and special law, any person who voluntarily, without the expectation of monetary or other compensation from the person aided or treated, renders first aid, emergency treatment or rescue assistance to a person who is unconscious, ill, injured or in need of rescue assistance, or any person in obvious physical distress or discomfort shall not be liable for damages for injuries alleged to have been sustained by such person or for damages for the death of such person alleged to have occurred by reason of an act or omission in the rendering of such first aid, emergency treatment or rescue assistance, unless it is established that such injuries or such death were caused willfully, wantonly or
recklessly or by gross negligence on the part of such person. This section shall apply to members or employees of nonprofit volunteer or governmental ambulance, rescue or emergency units, whether or not a user or service fee may be charged by the nonprofit unit or the governmental entity and whether or not the members or employees receive salaries or other compensation from then on profit unit or the governmental entity. This section shall not be construed to require a person who is ill or injured to be administered first aid or emergency treatment if such person objects thereto on religious grounds. This section shall not apply if such first aid or emergency treatment or assistance is rendered on the premises of a hospital or clinic.