[ClydeB]

Today I was faced with this question.

My company is rolling out automated external defibrillator's to the offices in my building. One to be right down the hall from where I work. Until today I considered it just another means to exercise my sense of humor by taping a "Don't tase me, bro" sign to it. This afternoon I was informed that we are having a training class later this week on how to use the device.

Got me thinking about actually having to use one of those things should the situation arise. Then the wider question would I actually help someone in need should I find myself there. Spent some time thinking about my initial feelings when I was going to learn how to use it. Also got to thinking how much of my decision is influenced by the type of personality I have. So I thought I would put the question to the forum.

Do you consider yourself a good samaritan? Would you stop and help someone if you found yourself in that kind of situation?

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Well, my answer is NO. I am not one. I used to be to an extent, but I got over it. Some bad experiences in my younger years both personal and 1st hand knowledge made me think it was just not worth it. I know that today in the U.S. there are good samaritan laws at both the federal and state level. I have read them to see exactly what types of protections offered. And it looks like the fact I work for a hospital would leave me open to possible lawsuits.

I am not a clinical person. I keep the computers running. In today's litigious happy society. With things like informed consent, living wills with a 'do not resuscitate' clause, religious objections, etc... I do not see any way to avoid the possibility of a lawsuit unless I stay out of the situation completely.

So I make sure that I do not get certified on any type of lifesaving technique. No one can say "he was trained and he did nothing" if I am not certified. The training they are offering will punch a big hole into that however. Have to see how I can gracefully bow out of the training without impacting my career. Working for a hospital and telling them I don't care if someone dies because I would not help may not go over well.

Besides, when it comes down to it. I just do not like having physical contact with people.

I did some Googling and found
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about a tv station doing an experiment to see the dichotomy between what people said and what they would do. Very interesting.

[uneingenue]

yeah, i would help someone in trouble, because i would want someone to help me. but obviously, i wouldn't give CPR to a person who i know has AIDS. so only if the benifit outweighs the risk.

[ClydeB]

Just thought I would throw this out there since it lends itself to my idea of not being a good samaritan.


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[Boyd]

I am a trained first aider with (current) CPR. You always assume that the person has AIDS, HEP, scabies, lice - whatever. You perform what you can with the materials available.

With the current trend away from breaths, CPR is becoming just compressions. You have little to fear from the person you are helping.

[dalidaisy]

I am a good samaritan. It has nothing to do with my personality type. I'm my mother's daughter. I'll do something good for others & be cursing under my breath about it at the same time.

I'm conflicted on this issue. It's been brought up in a thread before. I was just raised so much different this. I mean, I don't like people on a personal level, but I am thoughtful for humanity as a whole. Standing there watching someone (stranger or no) die of a heart attack while a defibrullator hung next to me on the wall seems a little too cold. I am apathetic for the most part, but I think this is taking selfishness too far.

So what if I get sued? Money doesn't mean more to me than life. Letting someone else die because I fear their family will take my money just seems wrong to me. Not helping someone because they may or may not have a disease that I could catch is a bit self-serving, too. I mean, how many diseases can you really contract from blowing into someone's nose & mouth (you don't have to exchange fluids) & pumping their chest? With blood, I'd just be careful. At least that's what goes through my mind.

I might not step in front of a bullet for a stranger, but I would probably try to take out their attacker. What would suck is if I managed to save them & they left me to die at the hands of their attacker.

( Show Spoiler )

Makes me think about the time I drove the 12 hours to Niagra Falls & had a flat tire in Ohio. I had two children in the car, all my luggage out on the side of the road & I was trying to change the tire in the cold, dark night (right next to a rest stop with at least 15 truckers pulling through & stopping at any given time, along with other travellers).

Problem wasn't that no one stopped (or walked over from the rest stop) to help so much as they didn't even bother getting over into the left lanes to avoid blinding me or knocking me over with a freezing cold gust of wind. It was ridiculous. I was even waving at them, asking with my arms for them to move to the next lane & they didn't (It really did knock me over every time a vehicle passed in the right lane). It took me over an hour to change the tire & get back on the road.

That incident made me seriously think about people & how far we've gone to avoid helping others. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

[Synapse]

I used to be registered in CPR, I feel pretty confident about it, so I would save a life if I saw someone randomly dying.

Certainly, I'd be a little squeamish about approaching a person and saving them, but I would do it anyways, regardless if I got sued. The price of a life is far more valuable than the price of a lawsuit.

And by the way, you can't get AIDS by existing near someone, remember that. It's only transmitted by blood or "reproductive fluids", so I don't think they would be spewing blood if they had a non-existent heartbeat and they would only break skin while suffering cardiac arrest if they fell on something and broke skin. Besides, that's why you wear gloves while doing this, haven't you noticed that glove packages are marked as biohazardous? That's to inform people to use them and not use them again on someone else, as you'd be transmitting potentially unsafe bodily fluids.