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Good Samaritan laws provide legal protection forordinary people who step up to help in an emergency. They’remeant as a way to encourage those who aren’t health careprofessionals to act, by removing the threat of legal liability forinjuries or other problems that could result from theirintervention.
In some countries, a Good Samaritan law actually requires aperson to act, but Canada’s laws don’t obligate you todo so. Generally, the law states that anyone who provides emergencymedical aid to an ill, injured or unconscious person at the sceneof an accident or emergency can’t be sued for injuries ordeath caused by the rescuer’s actions – whetherit’s something they’ve done or neglected to do –as long as their actions weren’t grossly negligent.
There’s no rigid definition for “grosslynegligent” but past court cases indicate it means failing tomeet a certain standard of care. For example, you couldn’t besued for breaking someone’s rib performing CPR but animpromptu surgery or radical manoeuvre could spell trouble.
Also, hesitating to help someone – perhaps someone youdon’t like – could be viewed as grossly negligent, aswould injuring others in an attempt to provide aid. If you shovethrough a crowd to an accident scene and push a bystander intooncoming traffic, you could be liable for their injuries.
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Sources
https://globalnews.ca/news/1660423/do-bystanders-have-a-legal-obligation-to-help-in-emergencies/
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/blog/good-samaritan-laws-in-canada
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