Are You a Good Samaritan?

Our local newspaper has a daily feature, snidely referred to as the Whine Line, whereby readers may call a number and comment on any subject they like. The caller doesn’t have to identify himself in any way (although I’ve wondered if the newspaper office uses Caller ID), nor is the caller required to have his facts straight regarding the subject about which he comments.

The newspaper then chooses certain comments—the most outrageous, the most sensible, the most humorous—on a variety of subjects, and prints them in the newspaper. Complaints make up the bulk of the calls, but occasionally a positive remark, or two, will break through the wall of negativity. One of the calls in yesterday’s paper was from a woman who had fallen on a downtown sidewalk a few days earlier. She called to thank the RN who had stopped to assist her, remarking that the nurse had been a great help.

It got me thinking about jumping in to help strangers in accident or other medical emergency situations. I have never come across a life or death situation but I have stepped up to help with several non-life threatening injuries. I tend to be cautious and assess the situation before I offer my services. Be assured that I would move more rapidly in the case of a severed artery, for instance, but in these less serious cases I like to see how things are shaking out before I make my move.

My hesitancy stems from having worked in the days before Good Samaritan Laws were common. Back then, if a medical person helped in an emergency situation outside the hospital and there was a bad outcome, a civil law suit was not out of the question.

All states now have some version of a Good Samaritan Law. They are designed to encourage people to offer assistance to those in need of help by reducing the fear that, if they do so, they could be sued in the event that they inadvertently make a mistake that further harms the person they are attending. The laws also serve to legally protect rescuers in the same situation. The laws vary from state to state. Nevada’s apply to all citizens, while California’s are written specifically for physicians.

My husband is a bicycle racer who seems to have a knack for crashing while out riding alone on training rides. In the process, he has managed to break a number of ribs, a toe and clavicle, puncture a lung and acquire an abundance of scary-looking road rash and lacerations. Someone has always stopped to help him.

When I arrived at the scene of his last crash, less than a year ago, I found three people, including a RN, tending to him on the side of the road. I’m grateful there are folks out there who are willing—and I suspect that is most of us—to help when the occasion presents itself.

Do any of you have Good Samaritan stories to share?