UAE ‘GOOD SAMARITAN’ LAW BACKED BY HEALTH MINISTRY

▶ Change to encourage bystanders to help in emergency situations

A Good Samaritan law allowing bystanders to offer aid in medical emergencies without fear of legal consequences could soon be brought in after being approved by the Ministry of Health.

The Rescuer Protection Law – similar to Good Samaritan laws in place in many countries – is intended to boost survival rates and encourage the public to help in potentially life-threatening situations.

It is hoped that the draft law will be brought into force soon after being given the green light by the ministry. The Cabinet must approve the draft before it comes into effect.

“There is strong evidence in scientific literature that early bystander intervention dramatically improves survival rates in many emergencies – such as cardiac arrest, for example,” said Dr Saleh Fares, head of the emergency medicine division at the Emirates Medical Association, who worked closely with the ministry on the draft law.

“This law represents a reassuring maturity in the emergency care development in the country. The purpose of this law is to ensure that the intervention is helpful.”

Police in Abu Dhabi have previously said it was an offence to provide assistance without being trained in first aid.

This led to a reluctance on the part of many to get involved when they see someone in need of support, some medics said.

An emergency response instructor told The National in August that people in the country generally chose not to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation because they feared they could be held responsible if those they tried to help died.

Nicola Liddell, an emergency first response instructor and course director at Divers Down, said a common misconception was that the last person to touch someone in need of help could face prosecution.

“I have heard about people choosing not to help someone who was choking because they were afraid of the consequences,” she said.

Chest compression and other techniques in particular could save the life of a family member, friend or stranger by keeping them alive until paramedics arrive.

Good Samaritan laws in countries such as the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany and Ireland provide legal protection for people who help those they believe to be in peril, at risk of injury or incapacitated.

Now that the draft law has been approved by the Executive Council at the Ministry of Health, it will be forwarded to the Cabinet for further assessment. “We are working hard to get this law approved this year,” Dr Fares said.

The draft law says that bystanders will be protected if they assist, with good intentions, someone who is in danger until emergency medical services arrive.

But providing assistance remains optional, and it will not be a punishable offence to not step in to help.

“Some countries mandated it but we opted not to in order to allow more freedom in the decision,” Dr Fares said.

In the case of a car accident, for example, if the patient is stable and the ambulance is within reach, the only help needed would be to call the ambulance and help them to get to the patient.

“But if the patient is at risk, like if the car is on fire or the patient is bleeding, then the help needed here is to take him out of the fire or to stop the bleeding.

“So the judgment will be

made on common sense in most of the cases and a balance between help and the harm.”

Were bystanders to provide aid by starting CPR, opening an airway to help breathing or treating a bleeding wound, it could make a significant difference in the survival rates of many patients, Dr Fares said.

He said cardiac arrest survival rates in the country are quite low, ranging between four per cent and 13 per cent outside hospital.

“So in simple language, out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest, we save only one, while we can save more than six people if we have this law and encourage the community to start the CPR immediately,” Dr Fares said.

“I understand that this takes time to happen but we need to start somewhere.”

He said the reason such a law had not been introduced yet was because there had been incidents in the past when a bystander trying to help did not improve the situation.

“This led to official announcements to limit such involvement,” he said. “It took us some time to convince government entities that the benefit of this law outweighs any risk.”

Cardiac arrest survival rates in the country range between four per cent and 13 per cent outside hospital