2022 Georgia Code
Title 51 - Torts
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 51-1-29. Liability of Persons Rendering Emergency Care

1. Any person, including any person licensed to practice medicine and surgery pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 34 of Title 43 and any person licensed to render services ancillary thereto, who in good faith renders emergency care at the scene of an accident or emergency to the victims thereof without making any charge therefor shall not be liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or omission by such person in rendering emergency care or as a result of any act or failure to act to provide or arrange for further medical treatment or care for the injured person.
2. As used in this Code section, the term “emergency care” shall include, but shall not be limited to, the rescue or attempted rescue of an incapacitated or endangered individual from a locked motor vehicle.

History. Ga. L. 1962, p. 534, § 1; Ga. L. 2015, p. 598, § 2-1/HB 72.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, designated the previously existing provisions of this Code section as subsection (a), and in such subsection, deleted “including” following “Title 43 and” near the beginning, and deleted “victim or” preceding “victims thereof” near the middle; and added subsection (b).

Cross references.

Emergency assistance to persons choking, § 26-2-374 .

Implied consent to surgical or medical treatment in emergency situations, § 31-9-3.

Liability of persons licensed to furnish ambulance service who render emergency care to victims of accident or emergency, § 31-11-8.

Liability of law enforcement officers for actions taken while performing duties at scene of emergency, § 35-1-7 .

Limitation of liability for death or injury relating to operation of “911” emergency telephone system, § 46-5-131 .

Limitation of liability for persons rendering assistance at scene of boating collision, accident, or other casualty, § 52-7-14.

Law reviews.

For note, “Good Samaritan Laws — Good or Bad?,” see 15 Mercer L. Rev. 477 (1964).

For article, “The Good Samaritan Laws: A Reappraisal,” see 16 J. Pub. L. 128 (1967).

For comment, “Good Samaritan Laws — Legal Disarray: An Update,” see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 1439 (1987).

For article, “Killing, Letting Die, and the Case for Mildly Punishing Bad Samaritanism,” see 44 Ga. L. Rev. 607 (2010).

For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 63 (2015).

For annual survey of tort laws, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 237 (2015).