Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Alaska

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 Alaska Stat. § 09.65.090 — immunity for a person who renders emergency care or counseling in good faith.
Scope of protection Protects a person who renders emergency care to someone who reasonably appears to need immediate aid to avoid serious harm or death. Immunity is lost for gross negligence or reckless/intentional misconduct.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Alaska Stat. § 09.65.087 — civil liability immunity for use of an AED; does not extend to manufacturers or to failure to notify EMS.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

Alaska Stat. § 09.65.090 protects the person who, in good faith, gives emergency care to someone who plainly seems to need immediate aid to avoid serious harm or death; the immunity holds unless the rescuer's conduct amounts to gross negligence or reckless, intentional wrongdoing. That same good-faith protection covers the use of an automated external defibrillator under Alaska Stat. § 09.65.087, with two limits worth knowing—it does not shield the device's manufacturer, nor a failure to notify emergency medical services.

No duty to act, but every reason to

Nothing in Alaska law compels you to come to a stranger's aid—the choice to help is yours to make. But when you do choose, and act honestly, the statute stands behind you, and using an AED is expressly written into that protection. Don't let the shadow of a lawsuit freeze you; the law has already cleared it away so that good intentions can turn into action.

Why training matters

In a state where help can be a bush plane and a long flight away, the minutes after a collapse belong to whoever is present—and survival from cardiac arrest falls by roughly ten percent with each of those minutes that passes without CPR. That reality makes the bystander Alaska's genuine first responder, the first link before any siren is even heard. The law has already stripped out the legal risk; training strips out the uncertainty, so that when the moment comes your hands move with purpose instead of hesitation. Prepare now, and you may be the difference between a tragedy and a homecoming.