Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Connecticut

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 Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-557b — the "Good samaritan law": immunity for emergency medical assistance and first aid.
Scope of protection Protects a person who in good faith and gratuitously renders emergency first aid or medical assistance. Immunity does not apply to gross, willful or wanton negligence.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-557b (same section) — immunity for providing, maintaining or using an AED in rendering emergency care; excludes gross, willful or wanton negligence.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

Connecticut's "Good samaritan law," Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-557b, protects the person who in good faith and without charge gives emergency first aid or medical assistance, withdrawing that protection only for gross, willful or wanton negligence. The very same section reaches the AED: providing, maintaining or using a defibrillator in the course of emergency care is immunized on the same footing, save for that same standard of egregious fault.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In Connecticut you are under no legal obligation to intervene—whether to help is a decision that rests with you. But once you act honestly, the statute has your back, and it treats the use of an AED as expressly covered. The dread of being sued shouldn't outweigh a person's need; the law was crafted so it wouldn't.

Why training matters

Sudden cardiac arrest steals about ten percent of the chance of survival with each minute it goes untreated, so the outcome is often decided before the first responders arrive. That places the bystander at the head of the chain of survival, the one person who can act while it still matters most, whether on a Connecticut commuter platform or a quiet residential street. The statute has already removed the legal risk of stepping in; training removes the uncertainty, giving you skills that hold steady even when adrenaline surges. Learn them, and you carry something quietly powerful—the ability to save a life.