Helping At The Scene
ORS 30.800 and ORS 30.802 — no liability for emergency help or a defibrillator unless grossly negligent
Emergency medical assistance. No one may recover damages from a person for injury, death or loss resulting from that person's acts or omissions while rendering emergency medical assistance, unless the person was grossly negligent. The complaining party has to allege and prove the gross negligence.
Emergency medical assistance means medical or dental care given voluntarily and without expecting payment, outside a place where emergency care is regularly available, to an injured person in need of immediate care, under circumstances suggesting that helping is the only alternative to death or serious physical aftereffects. Helping does not by itself create a duty to provide further care.
A defibrillator. No action lies against a person who used or tried to use an automated external defibrillator, was present when one was or should have been used, trained others in its use, or keeps one in a public setting, unless the person acted with gross negligence or reckless, wanton or intentional misconduct, or the use was where emergency medical care is regularly available.
These sections protect against civil damages; they do not create a duty to help. Volunteer physicians at athletic events have their own coverage within the same section. Whether particular conduct was grossly negligent is a question for a court and a licensed Oregon attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORS 30.800 — Liability for emergency medical assistance
- ORS 30.802 — Liability for use of automated external defibrillator
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Oregon attorney.