Good Samaritan Law in California – A Quick Legal Guide

As outlined in Health & Safety Code 1799.102, California’s Good Samaritan law protects you from civil liability for negligence when:

1. you act in good faith,
2. you are not seeking compensation, and
3. you render emergency medical or non-medical care at the scene of an emergency. ¹

Plus, if you seek emergency help for someone’s drug-related overdose, you will not face criminal charges for drug possession.²

The GSL is designed to encourage bystanders to help in emergency situations.³ Examples of good Samaritan-related acts include:

• seeing a car crash into a tree while walking home from work and helping the injured driver out of the car
• providing “light” medical care to a person after watching him fall off a stadium seat at a softball game
• dragging a drowning swimmer out of a lake and performing CPR

Our California criminal defense attorneys will explain the following in this article:

• 1. Can good Samaritans be sued?
• 2. What about criminal liability?
• 3. Can I get in trouble for reporting a drug overdose?
• Additional reading

1. Can good Samaritans be sued?

The GSL protects you from civil liability if your negligence while providing emergency care caused someone’s injuries.⁴ However, you can be sued if you caused injuries by acting with either:

• gross negligence, defined as a lack of any care or an extreme departure from what a reasonably careful person would do in the same situation to prevent harm to oneself or to others;⁵ or
• willful or wanton misconduct, which is conduct that is committed with intentional or reckless disregard for the safety of others, or an intentional disregard of a duty necessary to the safety of another’s property.⁶

Health & Safety Code 1799.102 is the State’s Good Samaritan Law.

2. What about criminal liability?

California’s Good Samaritan law is silent on criminal liability. This means that you could technically face criminal charges if you commit a crime in the commission of emergency care.

Consider, for example, you rescue a driver from a car accident. In the course of the rescue, you injure the driver’s leg while dragging him from the car. You stabilize the driver with first aid and call 9-1-1. You then take the driver’s wallet and run off.

Under Health and Safety Code 1799.102, the driver / injured victim could not sue you for his leg injuries. However, authorities could still arrest you for theft.

3. Can I get in trouble for reporting a drug overdose?

Under California Health and Safety Code 11376.5, you will not be charged with drug possession or use crimes if you:

1. act in good faith, and
2. seek medical assistance/ emergency medical services for another person experiencing a drug-related overdose.⁷

This law was designed to encourage a witness of a drug-related overdose to:

• call 9-1-1, or
• seek emergency help in a timely manner to save the life of the overdose victim.

Note that HSC 11376.5 does not protect you from being prosecuted for:

• selling drugs, per HSC 11352, or
• driving under the influence of drugs, per VC 23152.

Additional reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Good Samaritan Laws – Legal Disarray: An Update – Mercer Law Review.
• Beyond Seinfeld’s Good Samaritan Debacle: Protecting Citizens Who Render Care at the Scene of an Accident from Civil Liability – McGeorge Law Review.
• Review and inventory of 911 Good Samaritan Law Provisions in the United States – International Journal of Drug Policy.
  
• The Good Samaritan as a Legal Parable – Nootbaar Institute conference.
• The News Media and the Good Samaritan Statute Controversy: Covering the Ethics of Others – Santa Clara Law Review.

Legal References: