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CAVEAT EMPTOR

This episode caught national media attention and in response to a public interest petition filed on this issue, the Supreme Court of India declared that “Every doctor whether at a Government hospital or otherwise has the professional obligation to extend his services with due expertise for protecting life. No law or State action can intervene to avoid/delay the discharge of the paramount obligation cast upon members of the medical profession. The obligation is total, absolute and paramount.” This was in 1988.

The Supreme Court went on to direct that this order be given wide publicity so that citizens and healthcare providers around the country are made aware of their rights and duties respectively. Despite this direction, there have been instances when this judgment has been violated. For instance, in 2005, the Delhi State Consumer Commission came down heavily on a private hospital for refusing to attend to a road accident victim for the non-payment of admission fee, leading to his death. In this case, a good Samaritan had brought the injured to the hospital, but since she could not pay the admission fee of Rs.10,000, she was asked to take the injured to another hospital.

It is encouraging to see the presence of Good Samaritans in both the cases discussed above. This is not such a common feature in India. Many of us would probably just drive on or look the other direction. Some may stop, but more out of curiosity and not to actually render first aid or call for medical assistance. This must change.

There is a wealth of medical evidence to suggest a ‘golden hour’ exists for casualties after a road accident. Within this time, accident victims stand a greater chance of survival and a reduction in the adverse consequences of their injuries, if life-saving measures are immediately applied and followed by quality healthcare assistance.

The role of Good Samaritans is therefore critical. The Good Samaritan doctrine, as it is legally known, is a legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being sued for ‘wrongdoing.’ Its purpose is to keep people from being so reluctant to help a stranger in need for fear of legal repercussions if they made some mistake in assistance or treatment.

India urgently needs to develop a Good Samaritan law, so that it reduces bystanders’ hesitation to intervene and assist, for fear of being harassed by the police or prosecuted for unintentional injury. However, this may not be enough since it is also important to inculcate knowledge on basic first aid to all citizens and road users. Immediate assistance is vital, especially since emergency care response is virtually absent or significantly delayed in many parts of the country.

It is important to remember that even in countries with highly structured emergency care; the norm for ambulance response to a road accident is about ten minutes. So perhaps, India should introduce a law requiring knowledge of first aid as a prerequisite for the granting of a driving license, as it is required in Germany and some other European countries.

There is a Bill seeking to protect Good Samaritans languishing at the Rajya Sabha and virtually no steps on enhancing first aid knowledge around the country. Both these issues need urgent action.

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