Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Alberta

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 Emergency Medical Aid Act, RSA 2000, c E-7 (Alberta's Good Samaritan statute).
Scope of protection Protects physicians, nurses and any person who voluntarily renders emergency medical services or first aid at the immediate scene of an accident from liability for resulting injury or death, unless caused by gross negligence. Does not cover aid given in the ordinary paid course of professional duty.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute No dedicated defibrillator statute; lay AED use qualifies as emergency first aid and falls under the general good-faith immunity of the Emergency Medical Aid Act.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

In Alberta, the Emergency Medical Aid Act protects physicians, nurses and anyone who voluntarily renders aid at the immediate scene of an accident: no liability can attach for resulting injury or death, except in cases of gross negligence. This good-faith immunity naturally extends to the use of a defibrillator, treated as an act of emergency first aid. The only exclusion is aid given in the ordinary, paid course of professional duty.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In Alberta, the law places no obligation on an ordinary bystander to render aid: helping is a choice, never a compulsion. But when you make that choice in good faith, the province covers you fully, including when you take down an AED to use it. That leaves just one thing to prepare for: the skill to act with composure.

Why training matters

In a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival falls by roughly 10 percent with every minute that passes without resuscitation. From Calgary to Fort McMurray, from the suburbs to the remote farm, the bystander is almost always first on the scene, well ahead of the responders. Their actions in those first minutes often weigh more heavily than everything that follows. Learning CPR and how to use an AED in Alberta means giving yourself the ability to fill that decisive role instead of standing by, powerless.