Bill Description: House Bill 491 would expand Idaho’s Good Samaritan law to include aid provided during a mental health or suicidal crisis.
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Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?
House Bill 491 would amend Section 5-330, Idaho Code, which is known as Idaho’s Good Samaritan law because it provides immunity for those who, “in good faith and without compensation,” provide medical assistance to someone in need. The immunity applies so long as there is no gross negligence.
The current scope of the law is providing “emergency first aid or emergency medical attention” at “the scene of an accident or emergency.” The bill would expand this scope to include providing “emergency psychological attention, including responding to suicidal thoughts” during “a mental health or suicidal crisis.”
There is a significant difference between giving CPR or applying a tourniquet and attempting to intervene in a mental health crisis. Even determining when such an event is happening isn’t always straightforward, and knowing how best to intervene is challenging even for trained professionals. A clumsy or poorly managed intervention could easily escalate such a situation rather than de-escalate it.
While it is perhaps consistent with the scope of a Good Samaritan law to protect those who attempt to come to someone’s aid in a desperate moment, it may be wise to limit such liability protections to situations where non-intervention is likely to result in imminent harm.
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