December 8, 2008 |
2008-R-0660 | |
“GOOD SAMARITAN” LAWS IN FOUR OTHER STATES | ||
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By: Christopher Reinhart, Senior Attorney | ||
You asked about “Good Samaritan” laws in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
SUMMARY
Although “Good Samaritan” laws vary by state, they generally protect volunteers from civil liability for acts or omissions that cause injury to another while providing assistance in an emergency.
The laws in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island either apply broadly to volunteers providing emergency assistance or to (1) those whose usual duties do not include emergency medical care, (2) specific medical professionals, (3) people using automated external defibrillators (AEDs), or (4) people trained in first aid or life saving techniques. Some of the laws in these states also protect those who provide AEDs for use, owners of property where emergency assistance occurs, and people who provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED training. Pennsylvania also protects veterinarians.
The laws in these four states generally protect someone from negligence claims but allow a person to be sued for intentional misconduct, gross negligence, or treatment in the ordinary course of his or her professional practice.
“GOOD SAMARITAN” LAWS IN FOUR STATES
Table 1 below displays the “Good Samaritan” laws in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. It shows who the laws protect, the conduct covered, and exceptions to the protection from liability.
Table 1: Good Samaritan Laws in Four States
Who is Protected |
Conduct |
Exceptions |
Massachusetts | ||
● Registered physicians ● Registered physician assistants and their employing or supervising physicians ● Registered or licensed nurses ● Practitioners who reside and are licensed in other states, D.C., or Canada (Mass. Gen. L. ch. 112, § 12B) * |
Good faith emergency care or treatment as a volunteer without a fee |
Care or treatment in the ordinary course of the person's practice |
Anyone whose usual and regular duties do not include providing emergency medical care (Mass. Gen. L. ch. 112, § 12V) |
Good faith, and without compensation, attempts to render emergency care, including CPR and defibrillation |
● Gross negligence ● Willful or wanton misconduct |
New York | ||
● Licensed dentists (N.Y. Educ. Law § 6611) ● Licensed physicians (N.Y. Educ. Law § 6527) ● Licensed registered professional nurses and licensed practical nurses (N.Y. Educ. Law § 6909) ● Registered physician assistants (N.Y. Educ. Law § 6547) ● Licensed physical therapists (N.Y. Educ. Law § 6737) |
Voluntarily rendering first aid or emergency treatment to a person who is unconscious, ill, or injured without expecting monetary compensation, at the scene of an accident or emergency, outside of a hospital, doctor's office, or other place with proper and necessary medical equipment |
● Gross negligence ● Care or treatment in the normal and ordinary course of the person's practice |
● A person or entity that purchases or makes available resuscitation equipment to facilitate first aid, an AED, or an epinephrine auto-injector device as required by or pursuant to law ● An emergency health care provider under a collaborative agreement with respect to an AED or epinephrine auto-injector device (A person or entity can acquire and operate an AED under a collaborative agreement with an emergency health care provider and operating it pursuant to law is considered first aid or emergency treatment for purposes of the statute on liability (N.Y. Public Health Law § 3000-b)) (Public Health Law § 3000-a) |
● Using equipment when voluntarily rendering first aid or emergency treatment without expecting monetary compensation ● Using defectively manufactured equipment |
● Negligence ● Gross negligence ● Intentional misconduct |
-Continued-
Who is Protected |
Conduct |
Exceptions |
● Voluntary ambulance services, voluntary advanced life support first response services, and any of their members who are certified first responders ● Emergency medical technicians ● Advanced emergency medical technicians ● Anyone acting under the direction of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical technician (N.Y. Public Health Law § 3013). |
Voluntarily rendering medical assistance in an emergency to a person who is unconscious, ill, or injured without expecting monetary compensation |
● Gross negligence ● Does not relieve a voluntary ambulance service or voluntary advanced life support first response service from liability for acts or omissions on the part of anyone other than those listed ● Damages caused by a voluntary ambulance service or members when operating a motor vehicle |
Whether or not acting on behalf of an ambulance service or advanced life support first response service: ● Certified first responders ● Emergency medical technicians ● Advanced emergency medical technicians (N.Y. Public Health Law § 3013) |
Voluntarily rendering medical assistance in an emergency to a person who is unconscious, ill or injured without expecting monetary compensation |
Gross negligence |
Physicians (N.Y. Public Health Law § 3013) |
Voluntarily and without expecting monetary compensation providing indirect medical control to a voluntary ambulance service or voluntary advanced life support first response service (which includes written policies for pre-hospital emergency medical care and transportation developed by state authorities and implemented by a regional committee) |
Gross negligence |
Pennsylvania | ||
● Physicians ● Practitioners of the healing arts ● Registered nurses ● Those licensed by any state (42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8331) |
Rendering emergency care in good faith when the person: ● happens by chance on an emergency scene ● arrives on the scene by reason of serving on an emergency call panel or similar committee of a county medical society ● is called to the scene by the police or another government officer ● is present when an emergency occurs |
● Intentional acts or omissions designed to harm ● Gross negligence |
-Continued-
-Continued-
Who is Protected |
Conduct |
Exceptions |
Rhode Island | ||
Anyone (R.I. Gen. Stat. § 9-1-27.1) |
Voluntarily and gratuitously rendering emergency assistance to someone in need, including administering life saving treatment to someone suffering from anaphylactic shock |
● Gross negligence ● Willful or wanton conduct |
● A person trained under standards of the American Heart Association or the Red Cross, whether acting in an official capacity or as a private volunteer ● Property lessees and owners where the emergency assistance occurs and owners of life saving equipment ● Someone providing approved training in CPR or AED use according to standards of the American Heart Association or Red Cross and physicians providing medical direction oversight for programs of AED use (R.I. Gen. Stat. § 9-1-34) |
Gratuitously rendering emergency assistance in the nature of CPR or using an AED |
● Gross negligence ● Willful or wanton negligence |
● This law also specifies that the practitioners are not liable for hospital expenses if the practitioner, under emergency conditions, orders a person hospitalized or causes the admission
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