Good Samaritan law

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Your protection under the law

In Virginia, § 8.01-225 of the Code grants civil immunity to anyone who in good faith and without pay renders emergency care. The protection covers ordinary negligence but stops at gross fault, reckless, or intentional misconduct. It expressly reaches the reasonably prudent use of an automated external defibrillator and extends to AED program participants for AED-related activities.

No duty to act, but every reason to

Virginia lays no duty to rescue on the bystander: the decision to step in is entirely yours. What the state guarantees is that a hand extended in good faith won't be turned against you, so long as you stay within the bounds of prudent conduct — AED included. The law thus removes the obstacle of fear; it falls to you to add the decisive one of skill.

Why training matters

Virginia's standard of "reasonably prudent" use rewards precisely the person who knows what they're doing. That's the whole point of training: it teaches you to act calmly, methodically, in line with what the law values, at the very moment a life turns on a few compressions. From Richmond to the Blue Ridge valleys, cardiac arrest strikes without warning, and help is never as close as you'd wish. Training in CPR and the AED is how you make sure you can be, on that day, the right person in the right place.