Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Nova Scotia

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 Volunteer Services Act, RSNS 1989, c 497.
Scope of protection A volunteer (an unpaid person rendering services or assistance) is not liable for damages resulting from acts or omissions, unless caused by gross negligence or wilful or criminal misconduct. Intended to encourage voluntary emergency aid.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Volunteer Services Act, s. 4B: a volunteer is not liable for damages resulting from use of an automated external defibrillator, unless caused by gross negligence or wilful misconduct (explicit AED protection).
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

In Nova Scotia, the Volunteer Services Act protects the volunteer — any unpaid person rendering assistance — from liability for damages resulting from their acts or omissions, except in cases of gross negligence or wilful or criminal misconduct. The Act goes so far as to address defibrillators expressly: its section 4B rules out any liability for damages arising from the use of an AED, within those same limits. It is one of the few provinces to name the defibrillator explicitly in its protective text.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In Nova Scotia, no law requires you to step in: rendering aid remains a voluntary act, guided by conscience. But by naming the AED explicitly in its statute, the province sends an unmistakable signal: it wants people to act, and it clears away the obstacle of legal fear in advance. This reassuring framework now asks only one thing of you: the skill.

Why training matters

If Nova Scotia has taken care to protect AED use by name, it is because these devices save lives — provided a trained hand switches them on. In a cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation strips away about 10 percent of the chance of survival, and the bystander is almost always there before the ambulance. By learning CPR and AED use, you become that first link capable of turning the tide. It is a modest skill to acquire, and an immense one on the day it counts.