USA. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Good Samaritan Laws
USA. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Good Samaritan Laws
Overdose deaths have skyrocketed in recent years. (See Figure 1.) People experiencing overdoses require immediate medical attention: any time wasted before reporting the emergency to 911 lowers their chances of survival. While as many as 85 percent of opioid overdoses occur in the presence of a bystander, fewer than half are reported. The purpose of 911 Good Samaritan Laws (GSLs, also called Overdose Bystander Laws), then, is to encourage bystanders to report overdoses as soon as possible by providing immunity for certain criminal consequences of substance use. (ATTC - Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network, USA, März 2023)
https://attcnetwork.org/centers/attc-network-coordinating-office/attc-messenger-feature-article-march-2023