Hypothetical:

You’re at an action and someone gets a major bump from a riot horse. You rush to attend and despite how ugly the bump looked the victim seems fine. You examine the him and come to the conclusion that he’s a lucky chap and advice him to sit out for the remainder of the action. He leaves alone and the rest of the action is pretty uneventful.

A few days later you find out that your patient died from an intracranial bleed that resulted from that “bump”.

The Bad news:

You made a mistake and somebody died.  You’ve failed the patient, the movement and yourself.  As a medic there is no worse outcome possible.

The Good news:

You’re only human and all anyone can expect of you is that your principles are just and compassionate, your integrity is sound and you’ve done the best your capable of .

Furthermore not a single volunteer first responder has been successfully charged or sued in Australia and there are very clear laws in every state and territory designed to protect you.  These are called Good Samaritian Laws.

Good Samaritan Laws:

Basically a Good Samaritan is any person [Health care professional or not] who provides assistance, care of advice to another person in an accident or emergency situation that threatens to cause death or injury and expects no compensation.

Each state and territory has its own legislation and they do vary but they all basically protect Good Samaritans from civil liability for any actions they do or do not perform.  Below is a nice little table comparing the various state laws updated from a nice little Australian Family Physician article.

	Legislation	Protection	Exclusion from protection
ACT	Civil Law (Wrongs) Act, 2002	Honestly and without recklessness	Liability falls within ambit of a scheme of compulsory third party motor vehicle insurance Capacity to exercise appropriate care and skill was significantly impaired by a recreational drug
NSW	Civil Liability Act, 2002	In good faith	If the Good Samaritan’s intentional or negligent act or omission caused the injury or risk of injuryAbility to exercise reasonable care and skill was significantly impaired by being under the influence of alcohol or a drug voluntary consumed Failed to exercise reasonable care and skill
NT	Personal Injuries (Liabilities and Damages) Act, 2003	In good faith and without recklessness	Intoxicated while giving the assistance or advice
QLD	Law Reform Act, 1995	In good faith and without gross negligence	Nil
SA	Civil Liability Act, 1936	In good faith and without recklessness	Liability falls within ambit of a scheme of compulsory third party motor vehicle insurance. Capacity to exercise due care and skill was significantly impaired by alcohol or another recreational drug.
TAS	Civil Liability Act, 2002	Even if emergency or accident was caused by an act or omission of the Good Samaritan	Ability to exercise reasonable care and skill was significantly impaired by being under the influence of alcohol or a drug voluntary consumed.Failed to exercise reasonable care and skill. Impersonating a health care or emergency services worker or a police officer or is otherwise falsely representing that the person has skills or expertise in connection with the rendering of emergency assistance.
VIC	Wrongs Act, 1958	In good faith even if emergency or accident was caused by an act or omission of the Good Samaritan	Nil
WA	Civil Liability Act, 2002	In good faith and without recklessness	Ability to exercise reasonable care and skill was significantly impaired by being intoxicated by alcohol or a drug or other substance and intoxication was self induced

With that said however the law is unclear regarding when a Good Samaritan can withdraw treatment, it is safest and most ethical to continue to attend to your patient until a suitable reliever is present, you are in danger, unable to continue or the patient had injuries incompatible with life.

Important final note:

I am not a lawyer and this article is not intended to substitute for professional legal advice.  Below are links to relevant articles and the relevant legislation.

Links:

Good Samaritans (2008) Australian Family Physician, Vol 37, No. 7

Press release: Current laws protect good Samaritans using CPR (2012) Slater and Gordon Website

Protecting Volunteers (2003) The Australian Journal of Emergency Medicine, Vol 18, No 4

Legal liabilities for assistance and lack of assistance rendered by good Samaritans and volunteers (2004)  Resuscitation council of Australian Report