← First Aid: The First Five Minutes
Lesson
Lesson 3. Is it OK to touch them? The law, fear, and liability
Remove the biggest barrier — the fear of doing harm and being held liable — and know what US law says about first aid.
You may — and that's enough
Two fears and what the law and the numbers say
Two fears hold people back: “I'll make it worse” and “I'll get in trouble for it.”
The law. Every US state has a Good Samaritan law: a bystander who helps in good faith, without pay, and within their training is protected from liability for honest mistakes. In most states you may help but aren't required to. The duty to act lies with professional rescuers on duty: EMTs and paramedics, firefighters, lifeguards.
Laws on leaving someone in danger apply to a person who was responsible for them or created the danger: a parent, a caregiver, a driver who hit a pedestrian. A passerby isn't covered. A few states, such as Vermont and Minnesota, require reasonable assistance — and calling 911 and staying with the person meets it in almost any everyday situation, even if you do nothing with your hands.
Ribs. The 2025 guidelines are direct: there's little evidence of serious harm from CPR given to someone not in cardiac arrest, and for someone who is, the benefit far outweighs that risk. Their wording is plainer still: start without worrying about possible injury.
Doing nothing has a measured cost. In a Swedish study of 30,381 cardiac arrests, 30-day survival was 10.5% where a bystander started CPR and 4.0% where no one did — roughly double. And to be honest: the odds are still low — there just isn't anything better.
Lesson notes
Two fears and what the law and the numbers say
Two fears hold people back: “I'll make it worse” and “I'll get in trouble for it.”
The law. Every US state has a Good Samaritan law: a bystander who helps in good faith, without pay, and within their training is protected from liability for honest mistakes. In most states you may help but aren't required to. The duty to act lies with professional rescuers on duty: EMTs and paramedics, firefighters, lifeguards.
Laws on leaving someone in danger apply to a person who was responsible for them or created the danger: a parent, a caregiver, a driver who hit a pedestrian. A passerby isn't covered. A few states, such as Vermont and Minnesota, require reasonable assistance — and calling 911 and staying with the person meets it in almost any everyday situation, even if you do nothing with your hands.
Ribs. The 2025 guidelines are direct: there's little evidence of serious harm from CPR given to someone not in cardiac arrest, and for someone who is, the benefit far outweighs that risk. Their wording is plainer still: start without worrying about possible injury.
Doing nothing has a measured cost. In a Swedish study of 30,381 cardiac arrests, 30-day survival was 10.5% where a bystander started CPR and 4.0% where no one did — roughly double. And to be honest: the odds are still low — there just isn't anything better.