Fear of the law hampers Good Samaritans

[NewsWhore]

Nearly 10% of traffic accident deaths could be avoided if the injured were helped in time and taken to hospitals with adequate care, as reported in Listin Diario. Many deaths are attributed to crass indifference, and fear of getting involved with the authorities, or being accused of the accident. Possible rescuers fear that it is a trick and they could be victims of a subsequent assault. Others do not want to get involved because after getting the victim to the hospital, they need to spend lengthy time responding to the police investigation. A third reason is that private clinics refuse to accept accident victims if no-one is available to cover their medical expenses. And there is the ever-present fear that upon recovery, the accident victim will accuse the Good Samaritan of having caused the accident. Doctors consulted by Listin Diario reporters said that the best thing to do was to leave the accident victim alone if the passer-by does not have any training or knowledge of First Aid. The 911 telephone number has, according to the article, 80 ambulances stationed around the country.

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