Quote:
(b) a person other than a person mentioned in clause (a) voluntarily renders emergency first aid assistance and that assistance is rendered at the immediate scene of the accident or emergency,
the physician, registered health discipline member, registered nurse or other person is not liable for damages for injuries to or the death of that person alleged to have been caused by an act or omission on his or her part in rendering the medical services or first aid assistance, unless it is established that the injuries or death were caused by gross negligence on his or her part.
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Using this part of the law, you can see how the example I posted earlier could just as easily happen here as it did in the States. A car has flipped over. I pull a person out of the car, and perform CPR on them, saving their life, but paralyzing them and breaking some ribs, for good measure.
They can still sue me for paralyzing them when I pulled them out of the car (as that is not considered First Aid or Medical Assistance) but they can't sue me for the rib(s) I broke while giving them CPR. See the difference? And that's just at first blush, the laws are riddled with holes and problems like that that lawyers (of which I am not one) can look for to exploit.
Also, I would like to point out that I never said that I would NOT help someone, simply that I'd have to consider the ramifications first. Yes, I do realize that in an emergency situation, every second can count and that may mean the death of the person IN the situation.
Thing is, as has been pointed out, it's pretty easy to sit behind your keyboard and condemn someone for truthfully saying how they'd act in an emergency situation. It's pretty easy to be a keyboard hero and pile on when you really don't know how you'd act or what you'd do. Anyone remember the condemnation and vilification of those folks on the Greyhound bus during that incident? Yes, I have been in the military. Not only have I had basic first aid, I've also had advanced first aid and combat/field emergency first aid. I can deal with a bullet wound, a compound fracture and a sucking chest wound if I need to (though, frankly, I'd want a refresher on that last one, it's been a while...). I have not been in an emergency situation where there were injuries yet, so I can not 100% say exactly how I'd react. I have been in dangerous situations where an injury emergency almost occurred, but quick thinking and action prevented bigger problems.
You can hem and haw and use examples and back and forth's as long as you like, but until you are there, in that situation, you just don't know what you are going to do, how you are going to react. From my past experience, I have a decent idea of what I would do in most given situations. I also still firmly believe, as someone else posted earlier, that if you are in an emergency situation in which you can wait for someone who better knows what they are doing to arrive, you should. How many of the folks posting in this thread actually have an accredited First Aid course to their name? I know that myself and Conroy22 do, but that's it. Does anyone who hasn't had a course in what to do honestly and truly believe that if you came upon someone lying bleeding to death, that you could 'fix' them? With no training at all? Seriously? There are things an untrained person first to the scene can do, as has also been posted earlier. But the problem is too many folks see themselves as heroes, and they are just going to make a situation worse. The fact that they
may screw up the rest of their life in the mix is just an added 'bonus'.