Can you get sued for doing First Aid?

Imagine you’re walking down the street and suddenly, you see someone collapse from a heart attack. What would your reaction be? While some people will immediately rush to help, others might be a little more cautious. A common question that might come to mind would be: “What if I get sued?”. While that is a valid question, there is little to be concerned about if you have the right training.

You can get sued for performing first aid to try to save someone. In the United States, it is possible to get sued over just about everything. However, there’s a different answer if you ask: “Can I get successfully sued for emergency first aid?” In most cases, the answer would be "no". There are laws in place to protect those who act out of concern during an emergency.

Under the Good Samaritan Act, people who perform first aid out of concern won’t face any legal charges. However, there are specific cases where the Good Samaritan Act does not apply. For example, if the first aid was performed with gross negligence or negative intent. In these cases, the person may be accountable for damages they caused.

This law is valid in all 50 states of the US and was originally designed to protect medical professionals during their off-duty hours. Now, it protects all individuals who act out of good intentions. The specifics of the law will vary for different states so it’s advised to research your area’s regulations. However, this should not stop you from helping a person in need.

To be covered in the Good Samaritan Act it is important to ask for consent before helping an injured or ill person. The exceptions to this rule would be if the person is unconscious or unresponsive. In those moments it’s okay to perform first aid on the grounds of implied consent.

The Good Samaritan law does not apply to anyone who is getting paid to perform First Aid. If they receive any compensation for their help, then it's not considered an act of concern, so the Good Samaritan Act would not cover the damages.

When acting during an emergency it is important to know about what you're doing so your action does not fall under the category of gross negligence. It's not necessary to immediately start the certification process. You can start just by doing a simple Google search or keeping track of this website to learn more about First Aid with us. Learn at your own pace, so you can feel confident to act.

SOURCES CITED:

West, Brian, and Matthew Varacallo. “Good Samaritan Laws - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf.” National Library of Medicine, 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542176/.

Lawyers, Ross • Scalise Employment. “What Is the Texas Good Samaritan Law?” Ross, 28 Mar. 2018, www.rosslawgroup.com/texas-good-samaritan-law/#:~:text=The%20Texas%20Good%20Samaritan%20Act,-While%20some%20states&text=The%20law%20states%3A,is%20willfully%20or%20wantonly%20negligent.%E2%80%9D.

Henderson, Tammy. “Can I Really Be Sued If I Perform CPR? What You Need to Know.” AED CPR, 8 May 2020, www.aedcpr.com/articles/can-i-really-be-sued-if-i-perform-cpr/.

Written by: Shifa Shanofer