The purpose of Good Samaritan laws is to protect citizens, who assist others in emergency or criminal situations out of kindness and compassion without any expectation for reward or compensation, against personal injury lawsuits. In some states Good Samaritan laws cover only those medically trained in rescue and in others the also cover the general public. Both are intended to prevent legal liability for negative outcomes occurring from the rescue scenes.

In some cases, such as the death of New Jersey resident, Keith Briscoe, liability law can overlap and pierce the protection of Good Samaritan law. In this particular incident police officers were attempting to detain Briscoe outside of a convenience store and when he resisted other officers, two patrons of the store and the store manager moved in to help. During the scuffle Briscoe sustained injuries to the head, rib fractures and subsequently died from traumatic asphyxia. His death has been ruled a homicide and his surviving family members filed a $25 million lawsuit against all those who stepped in.

New Jersey’s Good Samaritan laws extend to protect medical professionals exclusively and so the citizens who stepped in to aid the police are vulnerable in this case. Is this unfair? That is debatable because all who seek Good Samaritan protection are expected to have behaved carefully and reasonably under the circumstances surrounding their actions. Briscoe’s brutal death clearly did not come from careful and reasonable hands.

The relevant question is whether civilians should ever step in to help the police and expect to be covered by Good Samaritan statutes. The tentative answer to this question is no. To avoid culpability and liability lawsuit, citizens must take care to select when and how they step in to help others.

First and foremost, the best protection from liability is to only extend assistance to the victim or victims of a particular situation. Use common sense and behave carefully and reasonably whenever extending aid. If in doubt the safest assistance for all involved frequently is finding a professional to help the victim(s) instead of you. Becoming certified in CPR, taking first aid classes only doing what you have been trained to do without ever accepting rewards or gifts for your assistance will place to firmly under the shade of the Good Samaritan Law umbrella in most states, but with some counter-intuitive exceptions. In California, for example, Good Samaritan laws are restricted to covering those who assist in medical care, but medical care does not include the rescue of injured victims from dangerous conditions, such as from a car that may catch fire.

It is clear that Good Samaritan laws can be confusing and the best protection for civilians from liability is to defer to professionals. If you have already been a “good Samaritan” and are facing a liability lawsuit then contact a personal injury lawyer immediately to help you plead your case.

Birth related injuries run the gamut from somewhat common to extremely rare and are often referred to as birth traumas. If physical trauma occurs prior to, during or directly after the birth process it is considered a birth related injury. Many of these injuries are caused by adverse health conditions of the mother or the child, genetic defects and complications from negative reactions to medication. The most unfortunate sorts of birth related injuries are the ones caused by the errors in judgment or outright negligence of the doctors, nurses and hospital staff we place our trust in when giving birth.