Precast Inc. - May/June 2008 - (Page 22) The Good Samaritan Act in North America Good Samaritan acts or laws are so named after the Biblical story of a Samaritan man who stopped and showed compassion and mercy to a seriously injured man who had been robbed, beaten and left for dead on the side of a Jericho road. The principal behind such laws is to protect people from civil (and in some cases criminal) liability when providing emergency care to the victim of an injury or illness. States or provinces may have their own versions of Good Samaritan laws. The specific protections in each of the laws are similar, yet not identical. For example, North Dakota’s law provides the caregiver with civil and criminal immunity. Pennsylvania’s “Non Medical Good Samaritan Civil Immunity” law provides civil protection for a responder except for acts “to intentionally harm or grossly negligent.” Some states make it a punishable offense if emergency care is not rendered, such as in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Others, such as in Michigan and Virginia, do not require anyone to render aid to strangers, including doctors, nurses or trained emergency medical personnel. In some states, the Good Samaritan law protects professional medical personnel, while others have separate statutes to address performance of doctors, nurses and others. The key is in providing emergency care “in good faith and without compensation” for such acts or omissions while rendering such care. These laws do not protect from acts of gross negligence or abandonment. For trained personnel – be it first aid, paramedic, physician – there is also the concept of “standard of care.” This means that trained caregivers must act within their scope of training. In other words, a certified first provider would not be protected from performing the functions of an emergency surgeon, since those actions would be beyond the “standard” and scope of training. These laws have been instrumental in affording legal protection to emergency caregivers, whether trained or bystanders. Such laws have not necessarily been primary in deciding to give care, but they have given an umbrella of protection during and after such care. Good Samaritan laws are important and, almost annually, are addressed, reviewed and/or updated to ensure proper levels of protection are afforded to those responding in an emergency. Check with your local statutes to determine whether the Good Samaritan Law applies in your jurisdiction. dreamstime.com monitor trainer compliance successfully. An instructor can be “disbarred” if complaints are filed to the certifying agency. An investigation by the agency will determine whether the complaint is valid. This is the most effective and most likely means of having an instructor’s certification pulled. The American Heart Association has an active list of instructors with regular/required instructor updates for CPR training. Noncompliance with these updates can result in being removed from the instructor list. This prevents the instructor from issuing AHA cards, as the cards can only be obtained through AHA after an instructor submits completed course rosters to the organization. First aid training in the United States is very competitive. Everyone charges fees and almost all are within a few dollars of each other. Some certifying agencies require instructors to purchase and use their specific materials in order to provide a certificate. Some agencies certify the skills of the person and allow 22 MAY/JUNE 2008 | PRECAST INC. http://dreamstime.com
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