Helping At The Scene

In Pennsylvania, any person, trained in medicine or not, who in good faith renders emergency care, treatment, first aid or rescue at the scene of an emergency or crime, or moves the injured person to a hospital or other place of care, is not liable for civil damages from it, except for acts or omissions intentionally designed to harm or grossly negligent acts or omissions that result in harm.

• §42 Pa.C.S. 8332

• It does not relieve the driver of a vehicle, including an ambulance, from liability for the vehicle's operation.
• A separate section gives physicians, other licensed practitioners and registered nurses who come upon or are called to an emergency the same protection, with good faith including a reasonable opinion that care should not wait until the patient is hospitalized.
• The bystander section also covers emergency care given to an injured police animal.

• §42 Pa.C.S. 8332
• §42 Pa.C.S. 8331

The protection is from civil liability, a lawsuit for damages, and the section sets its own limits on who and what it covers. Whether it applies to a particular act is a question for a court and for a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.

• §42 Pa.C.S. 8332
• §42 Pa.C.S. 8331