Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR New Brunswick

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 Volunteer Emergency Aid Act, RSNB 2016, c 17.
Scope of protection Protects a person who, voluntarily and without expectation of compensation, renders emergency first aid or medical services at the immediate scene of an accident or emergency from liability for resulting damages, unless caused by gross negligence.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute No dedicated defibrillator statute; lay AED use falls under the general immunity of the Volunteer Emergency Aid Act.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

In New Brunswick, the Volunteer Emergency Aid Act protects a person who, voluntarily and without expectation of payment, renders emergency first aid or medical services at the immediate scene of an accident: they cannot be held liable for resulting damages, except in cases of gross negligence. This good-faith immunity covers first aid as a whole, including the use of a defibrillator during an intervention. It sets a clear principle: acting with heart should never expose you to a lawsuit.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In New Brunswick, the law imposes no obligation on anyone to render aid: it is a free choice, left to each person's conscience. What the province does guarantee is that this choice will not be turned against the one who makes it in good faith, right down to the use of an AED. That leaves the real question, the one of know-how: will you know what to do in the seconds that count?

Why training matters

In a cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation strips away roughly 10 percent of the chance of survival. In New Brunswick's communities, often spread between towns and rural areas, the wait for responders can run into long minutes — and it is precisely those minutes a bystander can save. Learning CPR and AED use means preparing to be that first link, the one who keeps life going until the ambulance arrives. A skill learned today may tomorrow become the most precious thing you ever do.