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Liability Issues
Unfortunately, society is more litigious today than it used to be.
Potential rescuers have every reason to wonder what might happen to them
if they volunteer their skills to help rescue a person only to have that
person die. Good Samaritan laws have been passed in all fifty states that
protect rescuers from civil immunity in cases where they volunteer to
help. This legislation extends to the use of AEDs and applies as long as
the rescuer is not paid to perform rescue skills as part of his job.
Paramedics, EMTs, and emergency room personnel may not be covered by the
same protection afforded to volunteer rescuers.
The
assumption under Good Samaritan protection is that the rescuer follows
normal guidelines and applies them reasonably and prudently. Heartsaver
AED teaches that most defibrillators are not to be used on children less
than eight years of age or weighing less than fifty-five pounds. A rescuer
who chooses to use a non-pediatric AED on an infant may not enjoy Good
Samaritan protection. At the same time, in the absence of information
available at the time of the emergency, it is unlikely that fault would be
found with a rescuer who happened to use an AED on a child who had not yet
reached his eighth birthday or who weighed only fifty-two pounds. In an
emergency, rescuers are called upon to make many fast judgments. As long
as those judgments are reasonable, no legal consequences will follow.
Good Samaritan laws differ from state to state. Some protect
rescuers who use AEDs even if they never went through training while
others require completion of a state or nationally recognized class. Other
states not only protect the rescuer but also the physician who serves as
medical director, the owner of the facility where the AED is located, and
even the person or entity that provided training in AED and CPR skills.
Since such variation exists, you should take the time to familiarize
yourself with the statutes that apply to your state.
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