Florida Good Samaritan Law: AED, Overdose, and Immunity Limits

Florida’s Good Samaritan Law, codified at Florida Statute 768.13, protects people who voluntarily provide emergency care from civil lawsuits, so long as they act the way a reasonably prudent person would in the same circumstances. That standard is the detail most summaries get wrong. Volunteer rescuers in Florida are held to an ordinary prudence standard, not the higher gross-negligence threshold many people assume. Knowing where the protection starts and stops matters whether you are a bystander at a car crash, an off-duty nurse, or someone deciding whether to use a defibrillator on a stranger.

Who Is Protected and Where

The statute covers “any person, including those licensed to practice medicine,” who gives emergency care gratuitously and in good faith. Three conditions all have to be true for the immunity to attach:

The care is free. You cannot expect or receive compensation.
You act in good faith. Your intent is to help.
The victim does not object. If a conscious, competent person refuses help and you continue anyway, the “without objection” requirement is not met.

Location matters too. The immunity applies at “the scene of an emergency outside of a hospital, doctor’s office, or other place having proper medical equipment.” A parking lot, a hiking trail, a restaurant, the side of a highway — all qualify. The emergency room of a hospital does not, because that setting is governed by a different subsection of the statute and by standard malpractice law.¹

The Standard of Care You Actually Have to Meet

Here is where the law surprises people. Florida’s Good Samaritan Act does not give you a blank check. You are immune from civil liability only when you act “as an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have acted under the same or similar circumstances.” That is an ordinary-negligence standard: a court will ask what a reasonable person with your knowledge and abilities would have done in the same emergency, and if you fell short, immunity may not protect you.¹

This is more demanding than the gross-negligence threshold many people expect. Gross negligence requires a conscious disregard for someone’s safety. Ordinary negligence is simply failing to exercise reasonable care. So a volunteer who makes a reckless decision and a volunteer who makes an honest but unreasonable one could both lose protection. The circumstances still matter. A court will weigh the chaos of the scene, what equipment was available, and how much time you had to think.

In practical terms, stick to what you know. If you are trained in CPR and perform it correctly on someone who has stopped breathing, you are on solid ground. If you have no medical training and try to set a broken bone because you once saw it in a movie, a court could find that no reasonably prudent person would have tried that, and immunity would not apply.

The statute also protects the act of arranging further treatment, not just the hands-on care itself. Stabilizing someone and then calling an ambulance, or driving them toward a hospital, is covered as long as those decisions were reasonable.¹

Different Rules for Medical Professionals

Off Duty and Volunteering

A doctor, nurse, or paramedic who happens on an accident scene and provides free emergency care falls under the same subsection as any other volunteer. They are held to the ordinary-prudence standard. The practical difference is that “reasonably prudent” means something different for a trained emergency physician than for a bystander with no medical background. Courts will consider the rescuer’s level of training when evaluating whether the actions taken were reasonable.¹

On Duty Under EMTALA

Healthcare providers and hospitals delivering emergency services under federal EMTALA obligations or certain Florida statutes (Sections 395.1041, 395.401, and 401.45) get a broader protection. They can only be held liable if their care rises to “reckless disregard for the consequences so as to affect the life or health of another.” That is a much higher bar than ordinary prudence.²

The statute defines “reckless disregard” in this context as conduct the provider knew or should have known created an unreasonable risk of injury, and where that risk was “substantially greater than that which is necessary to make the conduct negligent.” Ordinary mistakes during mandated emergency care are protected. Only care so deficient it borders on intentional indifference triggers liability. This heightened protection applies until the patient is stabilized. Once the crisis has passed and the patient transitions to routine care, normal malpractice standards apply again.²

Using an AED

Florida has a separate statute, Section 768.1325, for automated external defibrillators. Under the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, anyone who uses or attempts to use an AED on someone experiencing a perceived medical emergency is immune from civil liability for any resulting harm, as long as the victim does not object. The law also protects the person or organization that purchased and made the AED available, provided they properly maintained and tested the device.³

Cardiac arrest kills within minutes without intervention, and AEDs are increasingly common in airports, gyms, and offices. The device guides the user through each step and will not deliver a shock unless it detects a rhythm that requires one, so the risk of causing harm is low. Florida’s law removes the legal risk as well.

Calling 911 for an Overdose

Florida’s overdose Good Samaritan provision, Section 893.21, works differently from 768.13. It provides criminal immunity, not civil immunity. A person who calls 911 in good faith for someone experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose cannot be arrested, charged, or prosecuted for possession of a controlled substance if the evidence of that possession came to light because they sought help. The same protection applies to the person who is actually overdosing.⁴

The immunity covers only possession charges under Chapter 893. It does not protect against charges for drug trafficking, sale, or distribution, and evidence obtained during the overdose response can still be used in prosecutions for unrelated crimes.⁴

When the Immunity Does Not Apply

Several situations fall outside the statute’s protection:

Expecting payment. If you provide emergency care with the expectation of being compensated, the statute does not apply.
Acting unreasonably. Care that falls below what an ordinary prudent person would do in the same circumstances is not protected. Dragging an accident victim away from a safe location, performing CPR on someone who is breathing normally, or attempting a medical procedure far beyond your training are the kinds of actions that could cross this line.
Victim objection. If a conscious, competent person tells you not to help and you intervene anyway, the “without objection” requirement is not met.
Hospital or clinical settings. Emergency care inside a hospital, doctor’s office, or other facility with proper medical equipment is governed by other law, not the volunteer Good Samaritan provisions.

Help freely, act within your abilities, and stop if the person refuses. Do those three things and the statute is designed to protect you.¹

Helping an Injured Animal

A provision many people overlook: the Good Samaritan Act also covers emergency care for animals. Under Section 768.13(3), anyone — including licensed veterinarians — who provides free, good-faith emergency treatment to an injured animal at the scene of an emergency on or adjacent to a roadway is immune from civil liability, subject to the same ordinary-prudence standard that applies to human rescues. If you stop to help an injured dog after a highway collision, the statute protects you from a lawsuit by the animal’s owner, provided your actions were reasonable under the circumstances.¹

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 768.13 – Good Samaritan Act; Immunity From Civil Liability
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 768.13 – Good Samaritan Act; Immunity From Civil Liability
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 768.1325 – Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; Immunity From Civil Liability
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 893.21 – Alcohol-Related or Drug-Related Overdoses; Medical Assistance; Immunity From Arrest, Charge, Prosecution, and Penalization