Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Michigan

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 MCL §§ 691.1501–691.1507 — Good Samaritan immunity: § 691.1501 (licensed health professionals) and § 691.1504 (any individual rendering CPR/AED with no duty to do so).
Scope of protection A licensed physician, physician's assistant, nurse, or EMS provider who in good faith and without compensation renders emergency care at the scene (§ 691.1501), and any individual who having no duty voluntarily renders CPR or AED use (§ 691.1504), is not liable for civil damages, except acts or omissions constituting gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
Duty to rescue No
AED liability protection Protected
Statute MCL § 691.1504 — an individual who having no duty in good faith voluntarily renders emergency services using an AED is not liable in a civil action, except for an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct.
No legal duty to rescue AED protection

Your protection under the law

Michigan frames Good Samaritan immunity at MCL §§ 691.1501 through 691.1507: § 691.1501 protects licensed health professionals who render aid in good faith and without compensation, while § 691.1504 reaches any individual who, having no duty, voluntarily performs CPR or uses an AED. That latter provision expressly covers defibrillator use, placing the rescuer beyond civil damages. In both cases, only gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct can bring the protection down.

No duty to act, but every reason to

In Michigan, no statute compels a mere bystander to help: the law says so plainly by covering the person who acts "having no duty." That free act is protected when voluntary and in good faith, and AED use is expressly included. Fear of a lawsuit should therefore not stop you — Michigan law was written to encourage intervention, not to punish it.

Why training matters

From the Great Lakes to the neighborhoods of Detroit and the long roads of the northern peninsula, a heart can stop anywhere, anytime. Training in CPR and first aid means preparing to answer the call: to recognize the signs, to compress without pause, to let an AED guide each shock until help arrives. Michigan's law already protects your will to act; training gives it the strength to succeed. Learn these gestures, for the person you save may be the one dearest to you.