Sad but true, we live in an extremely litigious society – one where a good Samaritan can actually be sued for trying to save a life.
It goes like this. Someone has a heart attack or goes into cardiac arrest, and a well-intentioned bystander steps in and performs CPR. In a perfect world, these Good Samaritans should be compelled to act without having to worry about being sued afterwards – but it happens.
In fact, such lawsuits are so pervasive that states like California and Illinois have passed laws giving such individuals legal protection who perform CPR on strangers.
While that’s good news for Good Samaritans in California, the same can’t be said for those in other states. For example, some states protect bystanders from lawsuits if they were officially certified in CPR – a process that requires re-certification every two years.
Of course, onsite CPR certification is a good bet anyway, regardless of the unfortunate threat of a lawsuit!
