Good Samaritan Laws

Posted: June 27, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: State | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Good, the Bad and the Unknown.

Good Samaritan laws were enacted by states to encourage people to assist injured citizens. The rise in Good Samaritan laws occurred with the rise with automobile accidents causing serious injury. However, the Good Samaritan laws have been stretched, restricted, changed and modified by public opinion leaving most with questions as to how the law is applied.

States enact Good Samaritan laws, and as such there are fifty different Good Samaritan laws, and those laws have been interpreted by the Courts fifty different ways. On top of that, almost a dozen states have enacted AED Good Samaritan laws and there is a Federal AED Good Samaritan law. This article is not intended to be the definitive research study on the issue, rather a general review of the legal issues, and you must check to understand how the Good Samaritan law is going to be applied to you in your state, or the state where you may be acting.

Finally, this is a study of the law. It is not a statement of the moral or ethical issues you may first in a situation where you may be needed to assist someone.

Good Samaritan laws only protect against lawsuits for bad First Aid. Good Samaritan law not to apply to the facts that caused the incident or anything that may apply after the first aid is tendered.

Good Samaritan laws only apply to individuals. Good Samaritan laws do not cover business, corporations or limited liability companies. If you are running an outfitting business and have an injured patron, your employees may incur liability for your organization by performing first aid. No matter what your employees do or how well they perform first aid, the business can still be held liable.

HOWEVER, your employees will incur liability for your business if they do not perform first aid. In the past ten years, three different states have held business liable for not allowing their employees to assist an injured party or for not assisting a Good Samaritan, who was assisting an injured party. In a Connecticut 2006 case, Parekh v. DST Output, 2006 Conn. Super. LEXIS 481, an employer was held liable when it failed to provide adequate medical care for an employee who was suffering an illness and died at work. In a New Jersey case, a business was held liable when it did not allow an employee to assist a patron who was suffering a heart attack. Finally, in a 2006 California court, Soldano v. O’Daniels, 141 Cal. App. 3d 443; 190 Cal. Rptr. 310; 1983 Cal. App. LEXIS 1539; 37 A.L.R.4th 1183 held a business liable when it refused to allow a Good Samaritan to call 911. The Good Samaritan came in from another store and asked to use the telephone to call 911. The business refused to allow the store to do so and injured party was shot. These are extreme cases; however, they show the courts believe that people should assist those in trouble and failing to do so is worse than doing so and messing up.

Good Samaritan laws do not protect anyone involved with the accident or organization where the accident occurred. Employees, who are given the responsibility of dealing with patrons, can be held liable for negligent first aid care for their patrons. Looking at it another way, Good Samaritan protects people passing buy and assisting someone they do not know who is injured. If you have a relationship with the injured or ill person, and the injury or illness occurred while that person was dealing with you, the Good Samaritan law will probably not provide protection. Examples are outfitter and guide statutes that require guides to have a first aid card. Because of the duty to provide first aid that is part of the requirement to have first aid training, there can be no protection under a Good Samaritan statute.

You are not covered by the Good Samaritan law if you placed the injured party in peril. This is also going to eliminate any protection under Good Samaritan laws for guides and outfitters. Because the outfitters and guides took the client out in the backcountry, that is the area of peril, where the guest was injured so the guide and outfitter are liable for the guest injuries.

Most Good Samaritan laws cover physicians the same way they cover any third party. Most Good Samaritan laws do not identify anyone who is not protected by the Good Samaritan statutes and a few specifically identify physicians as protected under the Good Samaritan law. However, that protection is still limited by the requirements set forth above. A physician who works at a hospital, on the staff is an employee or has a duty to everyone at the hospital and as such cannot use the Good Samaritan statutes to protect against a malpractice claim. The malpractice claim itself eliminates the Good Samaritan statutes from protecting you because the mal practice claim requires a relationship between a patient and physician. In a Good Samaritan law situation, the claim would be against an individual against another individual, who may or may not be a physician.

Good Samaritan laws only protect persons performing first aid. One of the big areas that has emerged is what can the Good Samaritan do. The normal answer would be to the extent of their first aid training and slightly beyond. However, that test can no longer be used because many first aid training programs are teaching beyond the scope of first aid. If your training is beyond the scope of first aid, you cannot act to your training because that exceeds the definition of first aid. The great issue is no legal definition exists for first aid.

Probably the best definition is the one used by the American Red Cross in its 2005 Guidelines for First Aid. First aid is defined by the ARC from National First Aid Science Advisory Board definition of: “assessments and interventions that can be performed by a bystander with no medical equipment.”

Do Something

Good Samaritan laws are fantastic. They provide protection so people can be taken care of by bystanders. Good Samaritan laws were not designed for outfitters and guides, lodges, or recreation providers and do not provide coverage or protection for these groups.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Copyright 2018 Recreation Law (720) 334 8529

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It is hard to understand the law because there are so many variations of the law and fifty different states with laws. It is harder to understand the law when the person explaining it to you is not a lawyer or worse, wrong.

Posted: May 16, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It is hard to understand the law because there are so many variations of the law and fifty different states with laws. It is harder to understand the law when the person explaining it to you is not a lawyer or worse, wrong.

You don’t go to law school for fun. Law school is NOT fun. You go to law school to understand how the law works. Law School is just the first step. You must study and understand what is going on to understand an area of the law.

If you did not go to law school, and you need legal help, ask a lawyer.

I got a question the other day from a client. He was preparing to give a speech to a group of lodge owners and wanted to make sure he was going to say the right thing about the Good Samaritan Act. He had read a lot of websites and particularly one website and thought he understood the issues.

He did not. Neither did the websites. In fact, one of the websites, which was based on the course and book he had just taken described what the Good Samaritan law was based for that course. The course, book and class were wrong too.

My client was off, and the website was wrong. The problem is the wrong was enough to get you in trouble as a professional, program college or business.

You really need to beware of non-lawyers telling you what the law says.

First, there is not one Good Samaritan Law, there are at least fifty, in reality, there are more than 150. Each state has its own Good Samaritan law. Many states have many different laws covering rescue, first aid, AED use, the Heimlich maneuver and other aspects of providing support to injured people without becoming liable.

Everyone explains the Good Samaritan law as you are not liable if you help someone in need and are not paid for that help. Sort of.

All the following are requirements from different state Good Samaritan laws. You are covered…

  • If you have the right training
    • Some states list the training you must have
    • You follow the standards of a specific training organization (dependent upon the state).
      • American Red Cross
      • American Heart Association
      • National Safety Council
      • National Ski Patrol
      • Boy Scouts of America
      • A course as determined by the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene
      • Department of Public Health
      • director of health
      • mining enforcement and safety administration of the bureau of mines of the department of interior
      • Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
  • If you don’t act outside the scope of your training
  • You act like a reasonable or ordinary prudent person
  • If you are not being paid for your services
  • You are not in a hospital or in some states on hospital grounds
  • You are a member of an organization that exists to provide emergency services
  • You act in good faith
  • You have been called to act by the county sheriff
  • You are paid but not to provide first aid, only to provide public services
  • You did not act willfully, wantonly or recklessly or by gross negligence
  • The care is provided at the scene of the accident
  • You are at work
  • You are not at work
  • You’ve been trained in the use of the AED
  • You’ve been trained in the use of the epinephrine
  • You are not the one that caused the injury or placed the person in peril
  • Or you have not obtained consent

You are NOT covered by Good Samaritan Laws in some states if….

  • “…or when incidental to a business relationship existing between the employer or principal of the person rendering such care…”
  • Shall not apply if the care inures to your employer
  • Where the person has not consented to the care
  • Are working as a guide or outfitter
    • Whether or Not you are being paid as a guide
      • If you are required to have 1st aid you are not covered
    • Whether or Not being paid as a physician
      • But some states allow you to be paid later as a physician
  • You placed the person in peril
    • Meaning any part of the trip as a guide

Just look at the requirement that the care be rendered at the scene of the accident. You are helping someone get out of the backcountry, and you adjust their band aid, away from the accident scene. In man states you are not covered by the state Good Samaritan act.

As a Guide are you covered by the Good Samaritan Act? NO!

My client’s confusion was the fine line between compensation for your services, and compensation as a guide or employee, because you are paid to provide first aid. Meaning as a guide, who may or may not be required to provide first aid or have first aid training, are you covered under the Good Samaritan law, if you provide first aid training to one of your guests. In most cases no.

There is no Good Samaritan coverage if:

    You are employed and part of your job is to provide first aid

        Because you are required to have a level of first aid training

        The industry requires people to be trained in first aid

    The guest knows you are trained in first aid and relies on that knowledge you gave them

    The landowner or river owner requires it under a permit or concession

    You placed the guest in the peril that caused the injury.

        You picked the location where the guide is fishing

        You picked the route up the mountain

    You told the guest to follow the map you gave them on the ride or hike

You are a guide, and you took the client out; you are not covered by the Good Samaritan laws in most states.

You are a guide, the definition meaning you will take care of the client.

And the issues above are not changed in the Outdoor Recreation Industry by using Independent Contractors. In all cases, the guide and the outfitter are liable.

Consequently, a website, class or book cannot in one paragraph tell you whether your actions are going to be covered by the Good Samaritan law.

I hope you are covered by the Good Samaritan law, but find out for sure.

Do Something

It sucks but getting legal advice from someone other than attorney does not work.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Copyright 2018 Recreation Law (720) 334 8529

If you like this let your friends know or post it on FB, Twitter or LinkedIn





If you are interested in having me write your release, fill out this Information Form and Contract and send it to me.

Author: Outdoor Recreation Insurance, Risk Management and Law

To Purchase Go Here:

Facebook Page: Outdoor Recreation & Adventure Travel Law

Email: Rec-law@recreation-law.com

Google+: +Recreation

Twitter: RecreationLaw

Facebook: Rec.Law.Now

Facebook Page: Outdoor Recreation & Adventure Travel Law

Blog:
www.recreation-law.com

Mobile Site: http://m.recreation-law.com

By Recreation Law    Rec-law@recreation-law.com    James H. Moss

#AdventureTourism, #AdventureTravelLaw, #AdventureTravelLawyer, #AttorneyatLaw, #Backpacking, #BicyclingLaw, #Camps, #ChallengeCourse, #ChallengeCourseLaw, #ChallengeCourseLawyer, #CyclingLaw, #FitnessLaw, #FitnessLawyer, #Hiking, #HumanPowered, #HumanPoweredRecreation, #IceClimbing, #JamesHMoss, #JimMoss, #Law, #Mountaineering, #Negligence, #OutdoorLaw, #OutdoorRecreationLaw, #OutsideLaw, #OutsideLawyer, #RecLaw, #Rec-Law, #RecLawBlog, #Rec-LawBlog, #RecLawyer, #RecreationalLawyer, #RecreationLaw, #RecreationLawBlog, #RecreationLawcom, #Recreation-Lawcom, #Recreation-Law.com, #RiskManagement, #RockClimbing, #RockClimbingLawyer, #RopesCourse, #RopesCourseLawyer, #SkiAreas, #Skiing, #SkiLaw, #Snowboarding, #SummerCamp, #Tourism, #TravelLaw, #YouthCamps, #ZipLineLawyer,


Florida AED Statute for Schools

Posted: December 18, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: First Aid, Florida, Medical | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Fla. Stat. § 1006.165 (2016)

§ 1006.165. Automated external defibrillator; user training.

(1) Each public school that is a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association must have an operational automated external defibrillator on the school grounds. Public and private partnerships are encouraged to cover the cost associated with the purchase and placement of the defibrillator and training in the use of the defibrillator.

(2) Each school must ensure that all employees or volunteers who are reasonably expected to use the device obtain appropriate training, including completion of a course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation or a basic first aid course that includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, and demonstrated proficiency in the use of an automated external defibrillator.

(3) The location of each automated external defibrillator must be registered with a local emergency medical services medical director.

(4) The use of automated external defibrillators by employees and volunteers is covered under ss. 768.13 and 768.1325.

Florida AED Good Samaritan Act

Posted: December 18, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: First Aid, Florida, Medical | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Fla. Stat. § 768.1325 (2016)

§ 768.1325. Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; immunity from civil liability.

(1) This section may be cited as the “Cardiac Arrest Survival Act.”

(2) As used in this section:

(a) “Perceived medical emergency” means circumstances in which the behavior of an individual leads a reasonable person to believe that the individual is experiencing a life-threatening medical condition that requires an immediate medical response regarding the heart or other cardiopulmonary functioning of the individual.

(b) “Automated external defibrillator device” means a lifesaving defibrillator device that:

1. Is commercially distributed in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

2. Is capable of recognizing the presence or absence of ventricular fibrillation, and is capable of determining without intervention by the user of the device whether defibrillation should be performed.

3. Upon determining that defibrillation should be performed, is able to deliver an electrical shock to an individual.

(c) “Harm” means damage or loss of any and all types, including, but not limited to, physical, nonphysical, economic, noneconomic, actual, compensatory, consequential, incidental, and punitive damages or losses.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, and except as provided in subsection (4), any person who uses or attempts to use an automated external defibrillator device on a victim of a perceived medical emergency, without objection of the victim of the perceived medical emergency, is immune from civil liability for any harm resulting from the use or attempted use of such device. In addition, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, and except as provided in subsection (4), any person who acquired the device and makes it available for use, including, but not limited to, a community association organized under chapter 617, chapter 718, chapter 719, chapter 720, chapter 721, or chapter 723, is immune from such liability, if the harm was not due to the failure of such person to:

(a) Properly maintain and test the device; or

(b) Provide appropriate training in the use of the device to an employee or agent of the acquirer when the employee or agent was the person who used the device on the victim, except that such requirement of training does not apply if:

1. The device is equipped with audible, visual, or written instructions on its use, including any such visual or written instructions posted on or adjacent to the device;

2. The employee or agent was not an employee or agent who would have been reasonably expected to use the device; or

3. The period of time elapsing between the engagement of the person as an employee or agent and the occurrence of the harm, or between the acquisition of the device and the occurrence of the harm in any case in which the device was acquired after engagement of the employee or agent, was not a reasonably sufficient period in which to provide the training.

(4) Immunity under subsection (3) does not apply to a person if:

(a) The harm involved was caused by that person’s willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless disregard or misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the victim who was harmed;

(b) The person is a licensed or certified health professional who used the automated external defibrillator device while acting within the scope of the license or certification of the professional and within the scope of the employment or agency of the professional;

(c) The person is a hospital, clinic, or other entity whose primary purpose is providing health care directly to patients, and the harm was caused by an employee or agent of the entity who used the device while acting within the scope of the employment or agency of the employee or agent;

(d) The person is an acquirer of the device who leased the device to a health care entity, or who otherwise provided the device to such entity for compensation without selling the device to the entity, and the harm was caused by an employee or agent of the entity who used the device while acting within the scope of the employment or agency of the employee or agent; or

(e) The person is the manufacturer of the device.

(5) This section does not establish any cause of action. This section does not require that an automated external defibrillator device be placed at any building or other location or require an acquirer to make available on its premises one or more employees or agents trained in the use of the device.

(6) An insurer may not require an acquirer of an automated external defibrillator device which is a community association organized under chapter 617, chapter 718, chapter 719, chapter 720, chapter 721, or chapter 723 to purchase medical malpractice liability coverage as a condition of issuing any other coverage carried by the association, and an insurer may not exclude damages resulting from the use of an automated external defibrillator device from coverage under a general liability policy issued to an association.

Pennsylvania AED Good Samaritan Act

Posted: February 11, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Pennsylvania | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

Title 42.  Judiciary and Judicial Procedure

Part VII.  Civil Actions and Proceedings

Chapter 83.  Particular Rights and Immunities

Subchapter C.  Immunities Generally

42 Pa.C.S. § 8331.2 (2016)

§ 8331.2.  Good Samaritan civil immunity for use of automated external defibrillator.

(a) General rule. —

Any person who in good faith acquires and maintains an AED or uses an AED in an emergency shall not be liable for any civil damages as a result of any acts or omissions by an individual using the AED, except if acts or omissions intentionally designed to harm or any grossly negligent acts or omissions result in harm to the individual receiving the AED treatment.

(b) Requirements. —

Any person who acquires and maintains an AED for use in accordance with this section shall:

(1) Ensure that expected AED users receive training pursuant to subsection (c).

(2) Maintain and test the AED according to the manufacturer’s operational guidelines.

(3) Provide instruction requiring the user of the AED to utilize available means to immediately contact and activate the emergency medical services system.

(4) Assure that any appropriate data or information is made available to emergency medical services personnel or other health care providers as requested.

(c) Training. —

For purposes of this section, expected AED users shall complete training in the use of an AED consistent with American Red Cross, American Heart Association or other national standards as identified and approved by the Department of Health in consultation with the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council.

(d) Obstruction of emergency medical services personnel. —

Nothing in this section shall relieve a person who uses an AED from civil damages when that person obstructs or interferes with care and treatment being provided by emergency medical services personnel or a health professional.

(e) Exception. —

Any individual who lacks the training set forth in subsection (c) but who has access to an AED and in good faith uses an AED in an emergency as an ordinary, reasonably prudent individual would do under the same or similar circumstances shall receive immunity from civil damages as set forth in subsection (a).

(f) Definitions. —

As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:

“Automated external defibrillator” or “AED.” –A portable device that uses electric shock to restore a stable heart rhythm to an individual in cardiac arrest.

“Emergency.” –A situation where an individual is believed to be in cardiac arrest or is in need of immediate medical attention to prevent death or serious injury.

“Good faith.” –Includes a reasonable opinion that the immediacy of the situation is such that the use of an AED should not be postponed until emergency medical services personnel arrive or the person is hospitalized.

HISTORY: Act 1998-126 (H.B. 1897), P.L. 949, § 11, approved Dec. 15, 1998, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; Act 2012-125 (S.B. 351), P.L. 1081, § 1, approved July 5, 2012, eff. in 60 days.

NOTES:

AMENDMENT NOTES.

The 2012 amendment rewrote (a); deleted “not be liable for civil damages provided that the person” at the end of the introductory language of (b); rewrote (c), which formerly read: “For purposes of this section, expected AED users shall complete training in the use of an AED provided by the American National Red Cross or the American Heart Association or through an equivalent course of instruction approved by the Department of Health in consultation with a technical committee of the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council”; deleted (e); in (f), substituted “or is” for “and” in the definition of “Emergency”; and made related changes.

Go back to the top of LexisNexis (R) NotesCASE NOTES

1. Trial court properly entered summary judgment in favor of a tennis club in a negligence action by a stroke victim because neither the Emergency Medical Services Act nor the Good Samaritan Act imposed a duty upon the club to acquire, maintain, and use an automated external defibrillator. Atcovitz v. Gulph Mills Tennis Club, Inc., 571 Pa. 580, 812 A.2d 1218, 2002 Pa. LEXIS 2832 (Pa. 2002).

2. Unpublished decision: Court recommended the affirmance of its decision granting judgment to a health club in an executor’s suit brought after the club’s patron collapsed and died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest while exercising at the club. While the executor maintained that the club had a duty to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) on its premises, the court rejected this contention, noting that, under binding state supreme court precedent, a sports club had no duty under the Emergency Medical Services Act or the Good Samaritan Act to acquire, maintain, or use an AED. Goldin v. Bally Total Fitness Corp., 2011 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 54 (Pa. C.P.), aff’d, 38 A.3d 931, 2011 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5470 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011).

3946. Definitions, see20 Pa.C.S. § 5483.

3947. 28 Pa. Code § 1051.2(2014), PART EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.

3948. 28 Pa. Code § 1051.51(2014), PART EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.

3949. 36 P.L.E. NEGLIGENCE § 2, Pennsylvania Law Encyclopedia, Duty To Exercise Care, Copyright 2013, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group.

3950. 6-LIV Remick’s Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court Practice § 54.01, CHAPTER LIV Health Care, Living Wills, Health Care Agents and Representatives, and Out-of-Hospital Nonresuscitation Act.