Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Yukon

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, RSY 2002, c 70.
Scope of protection No liability for damages resulting from acts or omissions of a person who, voluntarily and without expectation of compensation, provides emergency medical services or first aid at the immediate scene of an accident or emergency, unless there is gross negligence. Covers both health professionals and laypersons.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute No dedicated defibrillator statute; lay AED use falls under the general immunity of the Emergency Medical Aid Act.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

In Yukon, the Emergency Medical Aid Act rules out any liability for damages arising from the acts or omissions of a person who, voluntarily and without expectation of payment, provides emergency medical services or first aid at the immediate scene of an accident. Only gross negligence is an exception. The Act protects both health professionals and laypersons, and its good-faith immunity extends to the use of a defibrillator.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In Yukon, no law requires you to render aid: stepping in remains a free choice, guided by solidarity rather than compulsion. The territory does guarantee, however, that this choice, exercised in good faith, will not be turned against you, right down to the use of an AED. All you lack, then, is the know-how to act without hesitation.

Why training matters

In Yukon, amid wide open spaces and remote communities, help can take time to reach the scene — and in a cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation costs about 10 percent of the chance of survival. It is the bystander who is present, not the ambulance still far off, who forms the first decisive link in the chain of survival. Learning CPR and AED use turns your presence into the ability to act, and offers those around you a protection made precious by isolation. One day, it may be those very actions that make all the difference.