Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Bolivia

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Statute citation

Governing act Art. 262 of the Bolivian Criminal Code — "omisión de socorro" (failure to render aid). Unlike Argentina or Chile, the offence is tied to road-accident scenes and targets the driver, not any bystander.
Scope of protection A person involved in a traffic accident (the driver) who flees or fails to assist the victims; also the driver of another vehicle who fails to stop and help. Penalty aggravated by one half in an uninhabited place. It is not a universal duty to aid any endangered person.
Duty to rescue Yes
Penalty for failure to assist Imprisonment of 1 to 4 years; 6 months to 2 years for the driver of another vehicle who fails to stop; penalty increased by one half if the accident and omission occur in an uninhabited place.
AED liability protection No
Legal duty to rescue applies

Your protection under the law

Bolivia frames the duty to rescue more narrowly than its neighbours. Article 262 of the Criminal Code, "omisión de socorro," does not establish a universal duty toward any endangered person: it specifically targets the driver involved in a traffic accident who flees or fails to assist the victims, and extends to the driver of another vehicle who fails to stop and help. For the ordinary bystander, outside that road context, there is no general criminal duty to rescue and no specific liability shield.

Duty to rescue

On the road, Bolivian law is demanding: the driver who flees or fails to help the victims faces one to four years' imprisonment (six months to two years for the driver of another vehicle who fails to stop), increased by half in an uninhabited place. Outside that setting, helping a stranger is a human choice more than a legal constraint — but a choice that decides lives every day. Whether or not the law requires it, the prepared person is the one who turns goodwill into effective action.

Why training matters

In a cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation costs about 10% of the chance of survival. In Bolivia — with altitude, the long distances of the Altiplano and the valleys, and response times that can be considerable — the bystander on the scene is very often the victim's only immediate chance. Learning CPR and first aid gives you the power to act where help has not yet arrived. A crash on the road, a collapse at home: the skill you master could be exactly the one that was needed.