The Arizona Good Samaritan law is actually a set of statutes that remove legal risk from people who help during emergencies. The broadest one, A.R.S. 32-1471, shields anyone who gives free emergency care in good faith from civil lawsuits over the results. A separate statute, A.R.S. 13-3423, protects people who call 911 during a drug overdose from being prosecuted for drug possession or paraphernalia. Narrower laws cover automated external defibrillators and naloxone. None of these protections cover gross negligence, and none of them turn into a general shield against unrelated criminal charges.
Civil Protection When You Help at an Emergency
Under A.R.S. 32-1471, any person who renders emergency care gratuitously and in good faith at a public gathering or at the scene of an emergency is not liable for civil damages resulting from that care.1Arizona POST. First Aid, Legal Issues Training Document – ARS 32-1471 The statute applies to licensed healthcare providers acting outside their normal duties, certified ambulance attendants, and ordinary bystanders alike.
It covers the full range of first aid you might actually perform at a scene: CPR, wound care, moving an injured person out of danger, and similar interventions. It also covers the decision not to arrange further medical treatment after the initial care is given. Two conditions have to hold. The care must be free, and the care must be in good faith. A broken rib from chest compressions is the kind of foreseeable harm the statute exists to protect you from.
Calling 911 for a Drug Overdose
Arizona’s other major Good Samaritan protection sits in criminal law rather than civil law. Under A.R.S. 13-3423, a person who seeks medical help during a drug overdose cannot be charged or prosecuted for possessing or using a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia, as long as the evidence of those offenses came to light only because the person sought help.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3423 – Medical Assistance Requests; Prohibited Prosecution of Good Samaritans; Mitigating Factor; Definitions
The same protection extends to the person who is overdosing, provided someone sought medical help on their behalf. If paramedics respond to an overdose call and find drugs on the victim, that evidence cannot be used to prosecute the victim for possession or paraphernalia.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3423 – Medical Assistance Requests; Prohibited Prosecution of Good Samaritans; Mitigating Factor; Definitions
The statute defines “seeking medical assistance” as calling 911 or otherwise contacting law enforcement, poison control, or a hospital emergency department.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3423 – Medical Assistance Requests; Prohibited Prosecution of Good Samaritans; Mitigating Factor; Definitions A phone call to any of those is enough to trigger the protection.
AEDs and Naloxone
A.R.S. 36-2263 covers the use of an automated external defibrillator. Someone who uses an AED in good faith and without compensation at the scene of an accident, fire, or other life-threatening emergency is not civilly liable for any resulting injury, as long as the conduct does not amount to willful misconduct or gross negligence.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 36-2263 – Civil Liability; Limited Immunity; Good Samaritan If you grab the nearest AED out of a cabinet at an airport or gym and use it on someone in cardiac arrest, the statute protects you.
Naloxone has its own narrower rule. Under A.R.S. 36-2228, emergency medical technicians, peace officers, and certain law enforcement employees who administer naloxone or another opioid antagonist under a physician’s or nurse practitioner’s standing order are immune from professional liability and criminal prosecution for injuries from that administration, provided they act with reasonable care and in good faith. The protection does not apply to wanton or willful neglect. The statute also says peace officers and law enforcement employees have no duty to administer naloxone; carrying and using it stays voluntary.4Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 36-2228 – Administration of Opioid Antagonists; Training; Immunity
Where the Protection Stops
Every Arizona Good Samaritan statute has limits, and the limits are where people get into trouble.
Gross Negligence Breaks the Shield
The civil immunity under A.R.S. 32-1471 does not protect gross negligence while providing emergency care.1Arizona POST. First Aid, Legal Issues Training Document – ARS 32-1471 The AED immunity under A.R.S. 36-2263 excludes willful misconduct and gross negligence as well.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 36-2263 – Civil Liability; Limited Immunity; Good Samaritan Gross negligence is more than a simple mistake; it means a major departure from what a reasonable person would do in the same situation.
Paid Care Is Not Protected
The civil immunity and the AED immunity both require that the rescuer act without compensation. Send a bill for the emergency care you gave and the protection goes away. This matters most for off-duty healthcare professionals. An off-duty nurse who stops at a car wreck and helps for free is covered. The same nurse billing for that roadside care is not.
The Overdose Law Only Blocks Specific Charges
A.R.S. 13-3423 protects against prosecution for drug possession, drug paraphernalia, and related preparatory offenses. It is not a general immunity. Officers responding to the overdose call can still seize contraband and still arrest for anything unrelated: trafficking, weapons offenses, outstanding warrants.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 13-3423 – Medical Assistance Requests; Prohibited Prosecution of Good Samaritans; Mitigating Factor; Definitions
The protection also follows specific people. It covers the person who sought medical help and the person who overdosed. If three people are at an overdose scene and only one calls 911, the other two do not automatically share in the immunity.
Do You Have to Help at All?
No. Arizona does not impose a general legal obligation on bystanders to help a stranger in danger, and under longstanding Arizona case law there is no duty to rescue. The one narrow exception is motor vehicle crashes: a driver involved in a collision has to render reasonable assistance to anyone injured in it. Outside of that, the Good Samaritan statutes work by removing legal risk when you choose to help, not by forcing you to.