First aid legal obligations
As a first aider, you may be concerned that if you provide first aid to a casualty you could be legally liable if they do not make a full recovery. As long as you follow accepted first aid guidelines and act as a “reasonable person” you need not be concerned. To protect you there is Good Samaritan law in most countries.
Consent
Before providing first aid care to a casualty, you must obtain consent from that casualty or their parent/ Guardian/career. Say to the casualty “I am a first aider, can I help you?”
If the casualty is reluctant to accept your help but it appears obvious they are seriously unwell or injured then you should consider calling an ambulance or other emergency assistance.
In an emergency if a casualty is unconscious or unable to communicate the law assumes that the casualty would give their consent.
Duty of Care
As a first aider, you do not automatically have a legal obligation to provide first aid care to any person unless you already have a “duty of care” for that person. People who may have an existing “duty of care” can include workplace first aiders, teachers or careers, and family members.
If you start to provide first aid care for a casualty then you have established a voluntary “duty of care” and you should do all that you can safely do to care for the casualty until an emergency or medical assistance arrives.
Negligence
As a first aider, it is unlikely that you would be considered to be negligent when you provide first aid care to a casualty if you follow accepted first aid guidelines.
The following would need to be established for negligence to be proven:
- The first aider owed a duty of care to the casualty and did not provide any care
- The expected level of first aid care was not provided to the casualty
- The casualty suffered further injury as a result of the care given
- There was some direct relationship between the first aider’s actions and the injuries sustained