Good Samaritan law
First Aid & CPR Nunavut
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.
Your protection under the law
In Nunavut, the Emergency Medical Aid Act — inherited from the Northwest Territories and continued by the territory — rules out any liability for damages arising from the acts or omissions of a person who, voluntarily and without expectation of payment, provides emergency medical services or first aid at the immediate scene of an accident. Only gross negligence is an exception. The Act covers professionals and laypersons alike, and its good-faith immunity encompasses the use of a defibrillator.
No duty to act, but every reason to
In Nunavut, the law imposes no duty on anyone to render aid: stepping in is a matter of free choice and solidarity, never of compulsion. What the territory ensures is that this choice, exercised in good faith, will not be turned against you, including when you use an AED. What remains is to gain what the law cannot give: the confidence of knowing what to do.
Why training matters
In Nunavut, where communities are scattered across immense distances and sometimes reachable only by air, medical help can be slow to arrive. Yet in a cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation reduces the chance of survival by about 10 percent: here, the wait is paid for dearly. The trained bystander then becomes the true first responder, the one who sustains life until care arrives. Learning CPR and AED use strengthens the resilience of a community where remoteness demands it most.