Sue a Good Samaritan?

So I just read this article in the Reader's Digest about a woman (we'll call her Ann) pulling her friend out of a smoking car after an accident. The woman IN the car (we'll call her Barb) said that she could feel her legs before she was pulled out, but NOT after. She became paralyzed from the waist down. Barb sued Ann who pulled her out of the car.

There is a "Good Samaritan" law that protects EMT's and such from being sued if/when they are working on a patient in good faith, and the patient doesn't make it. So when Ann pulled Barb out of the car, Ann's lawyer explained, she was covered by this Good Samaritan law. He asked for charges to be dismissed and they were.

Barb's lawyer appealed, and Barb was given a sizable settlement.

So the question is, was what Ann did negligible? The part that they didn't mention in the article is the alcohol level of both women. They had been at a bar with friends, and neither Ann nor Barb was driving.

According to the others in both vehicles, Ann was the only one who saw smoke. And "everyone" knows not to move someone with a possible head or neck injury.

First of all, I would argue whether or not "everyone" knows not to move someone with a head or neck injury, never mind that all parties were full of adrenaline and most probably alcohol.

Secondly, I would need to know if the women had been drinking to the point of impairment. If Ann had been drunk, I would say she was negligible, and should be held accountable. If she was NOT, however, I think she should have been exonerated of all charges because she was obviously concerned about her friend being pinned in a burning car.

What would you do? Do situations like this make you think twice about helping someone? If there was a nationwide law that protected "Good Samaritans" from any possibility of lawsuits, would you be more apt to help?

I find this topic both interesting and upsetting. Our country is RIDICULOUSLY litigious. Spill piping hot coffee on your lap because you're clumsy? Sue McDonalds. Get cancer from smoking cigarettes? Sue Philip Morris. Get shot breaking into someone's home to rob them? Sue the homeowner, or the gun company.

My husband saw a bumper sticker that said: "Guns kill people like spoons make you fat." I laughed so hard I about peed my pants. But seriously!

My personal opinion is that you should help anyone you can, and trust that God will protect you from any bogus consequences. What a horrible place it would be to live where no one would help another for fear of prosecution. Shameful.