Did Louisiana's Good Samaritan law protect a volunteer using a defibrillator, and did a crowded venue have to provide one?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals asked whether its Good Samaritan laws protected someone who used an automated external defibrillator (AED) in an emergency. It also asked about the potential liability of people supplying or teaching AED use and whether owners of busy premises had to provide the equipment.

The 1998 attorney general opinion said a person who gratuitously used an AED to rescue someone at an emergency scene fell within the broad terms of LSA-R.S. 9:2793. The statute did not limit the kinds of devices used. The protection did not apply to intentional harm or gross negligence, or when the care was incidental to a business relationship. The opinion stressed that the immunity belonged to the individual rescuer, not an employer, another legally responsible person, or an insurer.

The office did not give a blanket liability answer for AED prescribers, suppliers, instructors, acquirers, or premises owners. It said those questions depended on the particular relationships and facts. As to equipment availability, it knew of no legislation at the time requiring owners of facilities frequented by large crowds to provide AEDs or other first aid equipment. It described the separate question as one of the owner's general duty of care.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Volunteer rescuers at the time

The opinion applied the general emergency-care immunity to gratuitous AED use, subject to the statute's conditions and exclusions. It treated the device as one means of rendering emergency care.

AED providers and instructors at the time

The office did not decide that supplying, prescribing, acquiring, or teaching AED use carried the rescuer's personal immunity. It said possible liability in those roles turned on the facts and the parties' relationships.

Owners of crowded premises at the time

The office knew of no statute then imposing a duty on those owners to provide AEDs or other first aid equipment. It left questions of an owner's general duty of care unresolved.

Common questions

Q: Did using a defibrillator take an unpaid rescuer outside Louisiana's Good Samaritan law?
A: The opinion said no. It treated AED use at an emergency scene as a type of emergency care covered by the general statute when its conditions were met.

Q: Did the immunity cover intentional harm or gross negligence?
A: No. The quoted statute excluded intentional or grossly negligent acts or omissions that caused damage.

Q: Was an AED supplier or instructor automatically immune because a rescuer used the device?
A: The office gave no such categorical answer. It said the immunity was personal to the rescuer and that liability for other participants depended on the specific facts.

Q: Did the opinion find a law requiring busy venues to stock defibrillators?
A: No. The office said it was unaware of legislation at that time imposing such an equipment duty on those owners.

Background and statutory framework

LSA-R.S. 9:2793, as quoted in the opinion, limited civil liability for a person who in good faith gratuitously rendered emergency care, first aid, or rescue. It excluded care incidental to a business relationship and intentional or grossly negligent harm. The opinion applied that general language to AED use and separated the individual rescuer's protection from questions about other parties' liability.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 9:2793 (Good Samaritan immunity, as quoted in the opinion)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0272

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

~tate o~
One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL.: (504) 342-7013
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (504) 342-2090

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9095
ATTORNEY GENERAL

SEPTEMBER 0 B 1998
OPINION NUMBER 98-272

61 - Laws - General
Mr. Frank H. Perez, General Counsel
LSA-R.S. 9:2793

State of Louisiana
Louisiana Good Samaritan Law provides protection to gratuitous
Department of Health and Hospitals
rescuer from civil liability for use of automated external defibrillator
P.O. Box 3836
(AED) in emergency if no gross negligence or intentional harm to
Baton Rouge, LA 70821-3836
another and care not given incidental to business relationship.

Dear Mr. Perez:

This office is in receipt of your recent opinion request in which you ask the following questions:

]. Do Louisiana’s Good Samaritan laws (as set out in Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2793, 9:2793.1, 9:2793.2; 37:1731, 37:1735; and 40:1235) provide protection from civil liability to gratuitous rescuers (including lay rescuers) who use an automated external defibrillator (AED) to try to resuscitate someone in an emergency?

2. Do the Good Samaritan laws (or any other statutes) provide protection from civil liability to an AED prescriber, to an AED provider or acquirer, to an AED instructor, and to a premises owner who agrees to have a AED on that premises?

3. Do persons who own facilities where large numbers of people gather or frequent have a duty to provide AEDs (and/or similar resuscitation equipment) or other first aid equipment to persons on their premises?

LSA-R.S. 9:2793, the "Good Samaritan" statute, provides as follows:

§ 2793. Gratuitous service at scene of emergency; limitation on liability

A. No person who in good faith gratuitously renders emergency care, first aid or rescue at the scene of an emergency, or moves a person receiving such care, first aid or rescue to a hospital or other place of medical care shall be liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or

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Mr. Frank H. Perez, General Counsel
OPINION NUMBER 98-272
Page ~2--

omission in rendering the care or services or as a result of any act or failure to act to provide or arrange for further medical treatment or care for the person involved in the said emergency; provided, however, such care or services or transportation shall not be considered gratuitous, and this Section shall not apply when rendered incidental to a business relationship, including but not limited to that of employer-employee, existing between the person rendering such care or service or transportation and the person receiving the same, or when incidental to a business relationship existing between the employer or principal of the person rendering such care, service or transportation and the employer or principal of the person receiving such care, service or transportation. This Section shall not exempt from liability those individuals who intentionally or by grossly negligent acts or omissions cause damages to another individual.

B. The immunity herein granted shall be personal to the individual rendering such care or service or furnishing such transportation and shall not inure to the benefit of any employer or other person legally responsible for the acts or omissions of such individual, nor shall it inure to the benefit of any insurer.

By its plain language, LSA-R.S. 9:2793 provides general immunity from civil liability to any person Who renders emergency care, first aid, or rescue at the scene of the emergency, by any actions, provided the caregiver does not intentionally or by gross negligence cause damage to another. The statute does not specify the type of care or instruments or devices used in administering the care, rather phrasing the type of care given in broad terms. The use of an automated external defibrillator would be one type of emergency care which would fall within the type protected by the statute.

In response to your second inquiry, this office is not aware of any specific legislation with respect to AED’s of the kind referred to in your opinion request. However, we do emphasize that the provisions of LSA-R.S. 9:2793 do not apply when such care is rendered incidental to a business relationship. Whether an individual would be protected by the provisions of the statute in the various circumstances which you describe would depend on the nature of the particular relationship involved. If there is intentional harm or gross negligence, then it is conceivable that the AED prescriber, provider, instructor, acquirer, and/or premises owner could be named as co-defendants. Additionally, the immunity is personal to the rescuer. If the rescuer is not liable but harm resulted from a defective AED, then a possible claim against all other parties could be lodged. There are many hypothetical situations that shift liability among the provider, prescriber, acquirer, instructor or premises owner depending upon the facts. These would have to be addressed on a case by case basis.

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Mr. Frank H. Perez, General Counsel
OPINION NUMBER 98-272
Page ~3~

Addressing your third question, we are not aware of legislation which imposes a duty to provide resuscitation or other first aid equipment upon owners of facilities where large numbers of people gather. This is more a general duty of care question for the owner.

In summary, this office is of the opinion that a gratuitous rescuer who uses an automated external defibrillator would be protected from civil liability under the general terms of LSA-R.S. 9:2793, Louisiana’s "Good Samaritan" statute, provided the caregiver does not cause damage to another intentionally or by gross negligence and that the care is not given incidental to a business relationship. Additionally, this office is not aware of any legislation that imposes a duty upon owners of facilities where large numbers of people gather to provide AED’s for emergency treatment of persons on their premises.

We hope that this addresses your concerns. Should you have any further questions, please contact the undersigned at your convenience.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB

By: ~
~NERAL
ROBERT B. BARBOR
Assistant Attorney General

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