The Perils of being a Good Samaritan

I was again playing around at yahoo.com today, icing my shoulder, and this video caught my attention. : http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=11186852. The title is "Can a Good Samaritan be sued?"

When I was in high school, I took lifeguard classes, and I also spent some time working as a life guard at a few different public pools. I also had my first aid card (and have, sadly, had to use my first aid training a few times). I don't like having to use my first aid or lifeguarding training, but when I have needed it, I am thankful to have it. I am especially thankful to have taken Infant-Child CPR (I think every mom should).

I was thankful to be able to help others in a knowledgeable way. I am thankful for my Red Cross training (though now expired....note to self, take a refresher course), as it helped me to learn how to assess a situation, and how to help others properly. I know how to rescue a drowning child (or adult)...and have done so. I know what to do when someone is cut, or not breathing, having a heart attack, or in some other emergency situation. It's good training to have.

This video I am linking to is about a man who rescued a co-worker in a car accident, and the co-worker was left paralyzed, and is suing him.

I have mixed feeling about this.

On the one hand, because of my training, I know that there is a right way and a wrong way to get an injured person out of a car (and there is even such a thing as doing nothing when the situation dictates simply sitting with the person until EMTs get there). I don't know all the particulars of this exact case, so who knows just how negligent this guy might have been? You can't just do it like they do on TV (don't even get me started on shows that show lifeguards jumping in as a first response--that's a big no no).

On the other hand, It's a scary precedent to set. I think that the human response, the compassionate response is to help. Who's going to help if they are afraid of being sued? What sort of world will this be if people just stand around worried about a lawsuit when someone is, say, bleeding to death, or when someone's toddler is drowning? I pulled a toddler out of the lake two summers ago. The mom freaked out that I ran and grabbed her child until I flipped the baby over and she vomited lake water everywhere (the lifeguard response doesn't go away even after 20 years...I don't find beaches or swimming pools, especially ones full of kids, at all relaxing). What if that lady sued me?

What do you think? Do you think people will be less likely to help if they worry about being sued? Do you think this will make more people get training to know how to properly respond in emergency situations?

My heart totally goes out to the woman who is left paralyzed, but it also goes out to the guy who thought he was doing the right thing, trying to help, thinking he was saving her life.