The North Carolina Good Samaritan Study
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Garneau, William. The North Carolina Good Samaritan Study. 2015. https://doi.org/10.17615/b5xc-m104APA
Garneau, W. (2015). The North Carolina Good Samaritan Study. https://doi.org/10.17615/b5xc-m104Chicago
Garneau, William. 2015. The North Carolina Good Samaritan Study. https://doi.org/10.17615/b5xc-m104- Last Modified
- January 27, 2020
- Creator
-
Garneau, William
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Public Health Leadership Program
- Abstract
- Introduction: Few studies have been carried out regarding the attitudes and behavior of American physicians to Good Samaritan situations. The largest study of American physician attitudes was undertaken by the American Medical Association in 1963 while the most recent study of American physicians was performed in 1998 and was limited to internists in New York City. There has been limited study and analysis of important questions such as the incidence of Good Samaritan acts, the factors affecting physician actions, differences among specialties, and the comfort of doctors with specific interventions. Methods: The NC Good Samaritan Study was a cross-sectional study designed to assess the previous experience and responses of physicians to providing emergency medical assistance outside of routine clinical care. We sent a paper survey to a random sample of 1,000 physicians in North Carolina. The sample was drawn from physicians of all specialties who were currently licensed and who resided in the state. We assessed the percentage who reported previous Good Samaritan behavior, the attitudes of physicians towards these acts, their responses to hypothetical situations, their comfort providing specific interventions, and the most likely reason they would not intervene. Results: The adjusted response rate to our survey was 24.6% (239/973 delivered). Most respondents were between the ages of 36 and 65 years. The largest group of respondents were primary care physicians, and over 90% of all respondents had previous life support training. Over three quarters of physicians reported previous opportunities to act as Good Samaritans. The most common specific location of Good Samaritan acts was on airplanes. Over 90% of physicians reported acting as a Good Samaritan during their last opportunity. In responding to a recent opportunity to be a Good Samaritan there were no differences between sexes, years in practice, practice setting, specialty type or doctors actively seeing patients. Doctors with greater knowledge of Good Samaritan law were more likely to have intervened during recent opportunity. Approximately 70% of physicians stated they would stop at the scene of a car accident. The most commonly cited reason for potentially not intervening would be that another health provider had taken charge followed by a lack of training in emergency care. Conclusion: This study found a rate of intervention much higher than previous studies of American physician behavior. Greater helping behavior was exhibited by those who expressed more familiarity with Good Samaritan law. These findings suggest that physicians respond to legal protections. Our results suggest that physicians were willing to provide a range of services; however, context is very important.
- Date of publication
- August 2015
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Note
- Paper type: Research or research design
- Track: HC&P
- Advisor
- Viera, Anthony
- Reviewer
- Harris, Dean
- Degree
- Master of Public Health
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Graduation year
- 2015
- Language
- Deposit record
- 095f953a-2d77-457c-963a-518fca8b212a
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