Is a CPR-certified person required to perform CPR on a heart failure/car accident victim?

Question

The situation is this. A car accident happens. A CPR-certified person dials 911, heads over to the accident and notices that 2 people are unconscious. Is he required to perform CPR?

Answer 1

Not legally, but perhaps morally.

Answer 2

probably your main concern is you are hesitant to do it because you think you might do a bad job. poor CPR is better than no CPR at all. and also the "good samaritan law" covers you -- meaning they cannot sue you for anything because what you did was considered "charity work"

you may not be technically required to do CPR -- because anybody can deny they know CPR if they don't want to do it. your conscience will bug you though, and also why study CPR and not use it?

when you have dialed 911, and if you are confident doing the CPR, then yes, you should perform CPR. just remember, every second counts if a person is not breathing, his/her heart is not pumping.

imagine if you were the person unconscious, would you like the person who called 911 and also happens to be certified in CPR to just stand around and watch you?

Answer 3

In the United States, you are not required to perform CPR on anyone at any time. Be aware, though that if you begin to perform CPR that you have taken on the liability of performing care for that person. I am a nurse. If I voluntarily stop at an accident scene and do not do everything I can to save a person's life, I can be held professionally accountable for my actions. In other words, I can be sued if I do not perform everything under my scope of practice. This should not disuade anyone to perform these actions, because I have before, but make sure that you know what you are doing. If you are certified by the American Heart Association, go to their website and see what you can find. www.americanheart.org

Answer 4

A layperson, certified or not, is not generally required to provide care. Some states require that ANYONE provide aid, but calling 911 usually covers that.

A professional rescuer may be required to provide aid, by professional standards or job description, but not a layperson.

In fact, in many places, the Good Samaratin Laws specifically protect someone who chooses to not render any physical aid.



Now- in your scenario, you call 911 to report the accident. You survey the scene to see if it is safe to approach. if it is, you check for victims.

You said you had two and you check for consiousness- they are unconscous. You have 911 called requesting an ambulance if one was not requested originally, and check both for breathing- you do not need to automatically do CPR just because they are knocked out.

If they are breathing OK, you'd start checking for other things you can deal with. If they are not breating OK, you would need to move them, safely, to a flat surface so you can do the Rescue breathing and check for a pulse. If no pulse, do CPR. If a pulse is there, just breath.

The certification is supposed to help you make these decisions more easily, and have a little more confidence.

Answer 5

No that is why there is the Samaritan Law. If you are in Quebec Canada you could be charged for not helping some. Unless you would put your self in Danger. You are First in First Aid.
If you Start you can stop if You are too Tie rd 10min of CPR is enough to know that you can stop. With two rescuer you should switch after 2min or 5 series of 2 ventilation and 30 Compression. Then Recovery position then call for help.

Answer 6

No. According to the Good Samaritan laws of the United States, unless you are responsible for the person's well-being (i.e. an elderly person's caretaker) you are *not* required to give any medical aid, including CPR.

However, if/once you do start providing medical assistance, you cannot leave unless the EMTs arrive (or someone with more medical training than you), if continuing would be unsafe (such as if there's a lot of blood, you don't have latex gloves -- you could get Hepatitis C) or if you need to call for assistance.

Answer 7

There are traumatic injuries that can prevent some kinds of CPR being used.
Also many legal areas involved when the injuries are not fully known, depending on the locale of the accident.
He would probably apply CPR techniques if the people needed them, but if they're just unconscious, he'd probably not.

Answer 8

You are never 'required' to use CPR by any type of law. And, if you are CPR certified, you would know that simply because someone is unconscious would not absolutely mean they need CPR.

Answer 9

No they're not required. Giving CPR is an act of kindness out of concern for a humans life. Once you start you are required to continue until EMT's arrive.

Answer 10

Generally, you are not required to do CPR. Some states have laws about not helping, but it depends on the circumstances. Also, as long as you're certified, if you try and are unsuccessful, you're protected by Good Samaritan laws so you won't be sued. You can read more at: http://medi-smart.com/gslaw.htm

Answer 11

Though the details of Good Samaritan laws in various jurisdictions vary, some features are common:

General guidelines
Unless a caretaker relationship (such as a parent-child or doctor-patient relationship) exists prior to the illness or injury, or the "Good Samaritan" is responsible for the existence of the illness or injury, no person is required to give aid of any sort to a victim.
Any first aid provided must not be in exchange for any reward or financial compensation. As a result, medical professionals are typically not protected by Good Samaritan laws when performing first aid in connection with their employment.
If aid begins, the responder must not leave the scene until:
It is necessary in order to call for needed medical assistance.
Somebody of equal or higher training arrives to take over.
Continuing to give aid is unsafe (this can be as simple as a lack of adequate protection against potential diseases, such as latex gloves to protect against HIV) — a responder can never be forced to put himself or herself in danger to aid another person.
The responder is not legally liable for the death, disfigurement or disability of the victim as long as the responder acted as a rational person of the same level of training would have under the same circumstances.