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Emergency Law Inventory | Full Law Text

Law Number

R.I. Gen. Laws 5-34-34

Summary Title

Good Samaritan Law: Nurse

Summary

A nurse, who, voluntarily and without compensation, provides emergency medical assistance in a non-medical setting, will not be held legally responsible for acting or for failing to act. They can be held legally responsible if they act with extreme carelessness or with intent to cause harm. Generally, Good Samaritan laws only offer protection for those individuals who provide care during spontaneous emergencies unrelated to volunteer deployment.

Full Title

Immunity from liability for gratuitous emergency assistance

Full Text

No person licensed under the provision of this chapter or members of the same professions licensed to practice in other states of the United States who voluntarily and gratuitously and, other than in the ordinary course of his or her employment or practice, renders emergency medical assistance to a person in need is liable for civil damages for any personal injuries which result from acts or omissions by those persons in rendering the emergency care which may constitute ordinary negligence. The immunity granted by this section does not apply to acts or omissions constituting gross, willful, or wanton negligence or when the medical assistance is rendered at any hospital, doctor's office, or clinic where those services are normally rendered.

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