PETALING JAYA: For a good number of Malaysians, “helpful” is their middle name.
Take the case of writer Erle Carvalho, who has twice come to the aid of accident victims.
“I had to pull a man out of a car which hit a steel railing. His head was bleeding profusely. I thought he was going to die in my arms.
“As I held his hand, I told him that God will help him,” he recounted.
Carvalho, 56, said a passer-by helped to send the man to a nearby hospital.
On another occasion, he and several bystanders helped a motorcyclist who had broken his leg following an accident.
Whether it is responding to flight announcements of “is there a doctor on board” or tending to an accident victim while awaiting an ambulance, Malaysians are known to step up to the call to help during an emergency.
Dr Sean Thum recounted an encounter in 2008 when he was a 16-year-old boy. He attended to someone who had had a seizure on a bus.
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He was already a registered first aider back then.
He had also helped the injured woman by cleaning her wounds and bandaging her injuries before the ambulance arrived.
These Good Samaritans, however, need some form of legal protection too.
As such, the Health Ministry said on Saturday that plans are afoot to have a Good Samaritan Law to provide legal protection that could spur people to assist others in emergency situations without fear of being sued for any unintentional harm caused during assistance.
Dr Thum said such a law could provide immunity from civil liability for individuals who voluntarily provide assistance to those who are injured, ill, in peril or otherwise incapacitated.
“I think to assist, the person should also have a certain level of training or knowledge,” he added.
Social activist Kuan Chee Heng, better known as “Uncle Kentang”, said the law should apply to anyone so long as they act in good faith to help another in need.
“This will make people less apprehensive about helping one another, which is what unity is all about,” he said.
However, he suggested that bystanders should try to obtain consent, verbally or otherwise, from the victim before attempting a rescue.
Malaysia International Search and Rescue chairman K. Balasupramaniam said there must be widespread first aid training knowledge among the people before introducing such a law.
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“The law must be supported with increased first aid knowledge for the public, either through free first aid training by the private sector or non-governmental organisations,” he said.
“If first aid or rescue is not done properly, it can cause serious injuries to the victim and leave them disabled, which then burdens the family.”
Assoc Prof Dr Nora Mat Zin, a consultant psychiatrist at International Islamic University Malaysia’s Kuantan campus, said introducing the law would require extensive education to ensure people are aware of its limitations.
However, she also pointed out that such a law would help protect the rescuer.
She gave the example of a bystander approaching someone who is in emotionally distress and tried to harm himself.
“While trying to guide the person to safety, the distressed individual slips and breaks his arm. Under the Good Samaritan Law, the bystander would likely be protected from legal liability for the injury, as they acted in good faith to help,” she said.
