Just got certified for the second time a week ago

 

Actually, it's the opposite.....Good Samaritan law is you can't get in trouble "trying" to help........but God help you if you fug up on something you've been trained in!!! GS law also only applies if aid is given with no compensation.


BTW, I'm an Instructor for the American Heart Association.....and yes, everything you think you know about compressions to breath ratio has just changed. So get out there and get certified!!!


Down here, American Medical Response (ambulance company)offers all the classes....Friends and Family, First Aid, Health Care Provider.

 

GOOD INFO!

Thank you - TONS!

 

I need to have it for work as well.

 

what are the new ratio's? the most recent I learned was from Ellis & Associates, 11 months ago.
I've known CPR since I joined the Boy Scouts when I was 13, been certified 11 months.
-matt

 

The new adult/child 1 man CPR is 30:2...........5 full cycles (2 minutes) before re-assessment.

A few other changes concerning the chain of survival.....whether the cardiac episode is witnessesed or unwitnessed.

The class itself is waaaaay more student participation oriented....you're actually doing skills within minutes........used to be the only hands on was at the end of class after hours of video and lecture........even though my lectures were always fun!!!

 

Re-certified every year though I believe the certification is actually good for two years.

The pitfalls of being a first responder I guess. 8 hours a year of my life that I will never get back. Cpr, first aid and child birth O-JOY!

 

I had emergency first aid that lapsed in 92. Got it in the Air Cadets at summer camp. They covered everything from CPR to ... well ... first aid. And us cadets that completed the course got a patch to sew onto our left uniform sleeves.

Anyway, like it was already posted, too many things have changed, that even if I knew what to do, I might be doing it wrong. But part of the kicker was if I witnessed anything, I was sort of "compelled" to assist, at least until the ambulance showed up. Our instructor had it even worse. He could be hauled into court and held liable if he witnessed and didn't do anything about it.

It really wasn't that bad though. As long as the patient was concious, you just stay with him/her, tell someone else to call 911, and cover him with a blanket to keep him warm. If you can, immobilize everything. That was basically it.

I guess I should probably go and get it renewed. I got mine through St John's Ambulance.

My buddy has Industrial First Aid, for work. Extra 3 bucks an hour for him to have it, plus job security, as he's the only one in his shop certified.

 

I was for many years. My cards been lapsed for awhile now though.

 

Had it, used it...but haven't been certified for quite a few years now. I suppose I ought to look into getting re-certified, even though I'm not currently in a job where I need it, but you never know...been in the back of my mind to do it for a while now, maybe I should drag it up to the forefront of my mind.

 

I am because my job requires it. I also did the child/infant cpr for my kid

Brad

 

From Wikipedia:

In the United States

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


General guidelines

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.



Consent

The responder must not commit assault by giving aid to a patient without consent.


Implied consent

Consent may be implied if the patient is unconscious, delusional or intoxicated — or if the responder had a reasonable belief that this was so; courts tend to be very forgiving in adjudicating this, under the legal fiction that "peril invites rescue".

Consent may also be implied if the legal parent or guardian is not immediately reachable and the patient is not considered an adult (no matter what the patient claims).


Parental consent

If the victim is not an adult (warning: definitions vary), consent must come from the legal parent or guardian. However, if the legal parent or guardian is absent, unconscious, delusional or intoxicated, consent is implied (with the same caveat as above). Special circumstances may exist if child abuse is suspected.


Laws for first aiders only

In some jurisdictions, Good Samaritan laws only protect those that have had basic first aid training and are certified by the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, American Safety and Health Institute or other health organization. In other jurisdictions, any rescuer is protected from liability, granted the responder acted rationally.


In Canada

In Canada, Good Samaritan Acts are a provincial power. Here is a list of several of the provincial acts:

1. Ontario - Good Samaritan Act, 2001
2. Alberta - Emergency Medical Aid Act
3. British Columbia - Good Samaritan Act
4. Nova Scotia - Volunteer Services Act

Only in Quebec does a person have a duty to respond. [1]

An example of a typical Canadian law is provided here, from Ontario's Good Samaritan Act, 2001, section 2:

Protection from liability 2. (1) Despite the rules of common law, a person described in subsection (2) who voluntarily and without reasonable expectation of compensation or reward provides the services described in that subsection is not liable for damages that result from the person's negligence in acting or failing to act while providing the services, unless it is established that the damages were caused by the gross negligence of the person. 2001, c. 2, s. 2 (1).[2]



In pop culture

A Good Samaritan law was featured in the May 1998 series finale of the popular NBC sitcom Seinfeld, in which the show's four main characters were all prosecuted for making fun of (rather than helping) an overweight man who was getting robbed at gunpoint.


References

1. ↑ Good Samaritan Law from The Canadian Association of Food Banks. URL accessed on Dec 26, 2005.
2. ↑ Good Samaritan Act, 2001 ©Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2005. URL accessed on Dec 26, 2005.

 

I've been certified off and on for the last 15 yers, It'd be easier if the card didnt lapse every year

 

I took the medical first responder course for work and cpr was one of the first things we did.It only took about a hour or two and we took our test,passed and received our certification.It was a fairly painless ordeal and one that may help out some day.I havnt gone to school in 20 yrs and the mfr classes kicked my but.I took them lightly at first and that was a mistake.I had to work harder to make up for my misjudgement but I would still recomend it to anyone who has a chance.We were put in mock situations in the cpr class and I freaked out when I had to give a practice dummy baby cpr and back thrusts to dislodge a foreign object from its throat.I could only imagine if I had to do it for real.At least ive got some idea of what to do.

Fat250

 

yup. it's in our really long bill of rights..

Fundamental freedoms and rights
1. Every human being has a right to life, and to personal security, inviolability and freedom. He also
possesses juridical personality.
2. Every human being whose life is in peril has a right to assistance.
Every person must come to the aid of anyone whose life is in peril, either personally or calling for aid, by
giving him the necessary and immediate physical assistance, unless it involves danger to himself or a
third person, or he has another valid reason.
3. Every person is the possessor of the fundamental freedoms, including freedom of conscience, freedom
of religion, freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of
association.