Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Missouri

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 Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.037 (Good Samaritan law) — immunity for emergency care rendered voluntarily and gratuitously at the scene of an emergency or accident.
Scope of protection Licensed physicians, nurses, and EMTs (Chapter 190), and any person who in good faith voluntarily and gratuitously provides emergency care, are not liable for damages, except for gross negligence (professionals) or willful and wanton misconduct (laypersons). Professionals may also treat a minor without parental consent.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Mo. Rev. Stat. § 190.092 (Public Access to AED Act) — anyone who gratuitously and in good faith renders emergency care by use of an AED is not liable for civil damages, unless acting in a willful and wanton or reckless manner; immunity also covers the trainer, owner, site controller, and supervising physician.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

Missouri protects the Good Samaritan through Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.037, which sets aside the liability of anyone who voluntarily and gratuitously provides emergency care in good faith, as well as licensed professionals under Chapter 190. AED use falls under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 190.092 (Public Access to AED Act), whose immunity extends to the rescuer, the trainer, the owner, the site controller, and the supervising physician. The protection falls away only for gross negligence in the case of professionals, or for willful and wanton — even reckless — conduct in the case of AED use.

No duty to act, but every reason to

Missouri obliges no bystander to intervene — helping remains a choice, never a duty imposed by law. That choice is firmly protected when voluntary, gratuitous, and in good faith, and AED use enjoys especially broad coverage. Fear of being sued should therefore not dictate your conduct in the face of an emergency — Missouri's law is on your side the moment you reach out a hand.

Why training matters

From the streets of St. Louis to the farms of rural Missouri, a cardiac emergency chooses neither its hour nor its place. Training in CPR and first aid means equipping yourself to respond without trembling: to recognize distress, to compress steadily, to use an AED at the decisive moment. Missouri's law already protects your intervention broadly; all that is missing is the know-how to make it bear fruit. Learn these gestures, and become for your community that reassuring presence who knows exactly what to do.