Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Vermont

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Statute citation

Governing act 12 V.S.A. § 519 ("Emergency medical care") — combines a duty to rescue with Good Samaritan immunity.
Scope of protection A person who provides reasonable assistance in compliance with this section is not liable in civil damages unless the acts constitute gross negligence or unless the person receives or expects to receive remuneration.
Duty to rescue Yes
Penalty for failure to assist 12 V.S.A. § 519(a) requires a person who knows that another is exposed to grave physical harm to give reasonable assistance, to the extent it can be rendered without danger to themselves. A person who willfully violates this duty shall be fined not more than $100.
AED liability protection Protected
Statute 18 V.S.A. § 1155 (public access defibrillation) grants immunity to AED owners, users, and trainers; the statute specifies it creates no duty to act under 12 V.S.A. § 519.
Legal duty to rescue applies AED protection

Your protection under the law

Vermont is unusual: its statute 12 V.S.A. § 519 folds a duty to rescue and Good Samaritan immunity into a single text. Anyone who gives reasonable assistance in keeping with that section is not liable in civil damages, unless grossly negligent or unless they receive or expect payment. The use of an AED carries its own immunity as well (18 V.S.A. § 1155), protecting users, owners, and trainers.

Duty to rescue

Unlike most states, Vermont makes helping a legal duty: § 519(a) requires anyone who knows another is exposed to grave physical harm to give reasonable assistance, so far as it can be done without danger to themselves. Willfully breaking that duty risks a fine of up to $100 — a modest penalty, but plain in its intent. Vermont's message is unmistakable: here, coming to the aid of another is not merely allowed and protected, it is expected of everyone.

Why training matters

In Vermont, the law doesn't merely protect you: it expects you to show up. And "reasonable assistance" only means something if you know what to do — compressions, clearing an airway, switching on a defibrillator. A CPR and first-aid course turns that moral obligation, now a legal one too, into a real capacity to act well. Answering a neighbor's cry for help, in the Green Mountain State, is at once a citizen's duty and the most human of reflexes.