What is the Texas good Samaritan law and how would it protect you?
You've likely seen a number of stories where complete strangers rush to the rescue in traumatic situations, but is there legal risk that comes with that?
ABC13 spoke to first responders at Community Volunteer Fire Department, who stressed that even though a person is not required, if you can help someone until first responders arrive, do so. It could make a difference in saving a life until professionals reach the scene.
You should also be covered under the Texas good Samaritan law. It's designed to protect people helping at the scene of an emergency or in a hospital setting from civil repercussions or liabilities, like lawsuits, as long as you're acting in good faith and don't intentionally cause harm.
These types of scenarios might come up, for example, if someone is in cardiac arrest and CPR needs to be given, or in the case of pulling someone from a car crash, since it's often other people who see that happen before medics have the chance to get there.
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But the law doesn't protect everyone.
First responders, tow truck drivers, and anyone who is responding to the scene as part of their job or as some type of service and who would be compensated would not be covered.
Understandably, it can be scary to jump in if you feel you don't have training or you're not qualified, but first responders say doing something would be better than nothing at all.
"It's a pretty solid protection. One of the other things that you might see this in is cardiac arrest, which happens out in public. A lot of those scenes, we see a lot of people standing around, and they might be filming or they might be just kind of in a panic mode, and not actually helping the person," said Kris Parrent, public information officer for Community Volunteer Fire Department. "Despite the potential for injury, this person needs help, and we really want them to go ahead and help the patient the best they can."
"In case of CPR, cardiac arrest especially, if you don't help that person, there's a chance they might die, so we really need those quick compressions... to help that person as fast as possible," Parrent continued.
First responders have found that one of the things that prevents people from helping is that they might not be the most qualified person there or they might not know everything they need to know to help the person.
"The typical bystander who doesn't have any formal medical training, they do not have any obligation to help. It is something that is entirely voluntary, (but) we encourage you to help your neighbor, help your community," he said.
If someone is looking for training and how they might be able to help in some of these incidents, Community VFD offers classes in a variety of topics, including CPR.
The fire department serves part of Fort Bend and Harris Counties. They're willing to teach anyone as long as you can make it to their facilities for training.
While helping out in an emergency can be critical to saving someone's life, it's just as important to remember that people have the right to refuse medical care.
Parrent says that as long as the person is of sound mind, and if they tell you not to help, good Samaritans would need to respect that.
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