I noticed a few comments that stuck out. First is that anyone can be sued and the misconception that the Good Samaritan Act (GSA) protects you from being sued. That second part is technically incorrect. The GSA protects medical professional like an EMT and in most states medically trained civilians providing first aid who are working within the scope of their training, and are knowlegable in their field of practice from being prosecuted or found liable for injury or death that results from medical treatment provided in good faith, unless there is sufficient evidence of gross negligence. Notice I said Gross negligence. (Some states like CA dropped the word Gross from their laws) Nothing to protect you from the lawsuit itself. An emergency extrication of a patient is a medical procedure that we all learned to do in Basic EMT. If this person was not an EMT I would venture to guess the judge saw sufficient evidence that the person was not medically qualified to perform an emergency extrication any more then she was trained to perform a tracheotomy with a ball point pen. That does not mean that the GSA won't still protect her. Although she did admit that she was attempting to perform medical care on the patient, She still has to be found negligent in her actions and the prosecutor has to show reasonable evidence that the act of pulling her out of the car was an act of gross negligence, and that this person knowingly performed a skill that was outside of her level of training. While an EMT has to work within their protocols, someone who is not in EMT might not know that this requires special training and would have been acting in good faith, and within their ability to save someone who was in apparent danger. Chances are a jury will find that the GSA applies depending on the way the California law is written. It is worth taking a deeper look at not only the laws in this case, but the case law in your state. I think they may find her negligent in her actions either way but will probably provide her with protection under the GSA all the same.
