Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Colorado

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 Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-108 — immunity for persons rendering emergency assistance gratuitously and in good faith.
Scope of protection Protects any person who in good faith renders emergency care or assistance without compensation at the place of an emergency or accident. Immunity is lost for acts or omissions that are grossly negligent or willful and wanton.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-108.1 — limited immunity for persons rendering emergency assistance through the use of an AED; excludes gross negligence or willful and wanton acts.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

Colorado's Good Samaritan provision, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-108, gives immunity to anyone who in good faith renders emergency care or assistance without compensation at the scene of an emergency or accident, drawing the line only at acts or omissions that are grossly negligent or willful and wanton. A dedicated section, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-108.1, applies that same limited immunity to emergency help given through an AED, so a rescuer who uses one is protected on identical terms.

No duty to act, but every reason to

Colorado creates no legal duty to step in—helping someone in an emergency is a choice you're free to make or decline. Make it in good faith and the statute shields you, and it names the use of an AED as expressly protected. Fear of a lawsuit shouldn't hold your hand back when the law has already promised to stand behind it.

Why training matters

From a trailhead in the high country to a downtown sidewalk, cardiac arrest can strike anywhere, and survival falls by about ten percent for every minute that passes without CPR. At Colorado's elevations and distances, an ambulance may be many minutes out, which is exactly why the bystander is the first and most decisive link in the chain of survival. The law has already lifted the legal risk; training lifts the doubt, so you can act at once instead of waiting and wondering. Get trained, and you become the calm, capable presence a life may depend on.