Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Senegal

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 Penal Code (Basic Law No. 65-60 of 21 July 1965), Article 49 paragraph 2 — non-assistance to a person in peril / failure to render assistance. As a Francophone civil-law jurisdiction, the code imposes an affirmative duty to assist.
Scope of protection Penalizes anyone who voluntarily abstains from giving a person in peril the assistance he could provide, without risk to himself or third parties, whether by his own action or by summoning help. Paragraph 1 also covers failing to prevent a crime or offence against bodily integrity. The duty binds everyone.
Duty to rescue Yes
Penalty for failure to assist Imprisonment of 3 months to 5 years and a fine of 25,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs (FCFA/XOF), or either penalty alone.
AED liability protection No
Legal duty to rescue applies

Your protection under the law

In Senegal, coming to the aid of a person in peril is a duty written into law. Article 49 paragraph 2 of the Penal Code (Basic Law No. 65-60 of 21 July 1965) penalizes non-assistance to a person in peril and binds everyone, without distinction. The law punishes anyone who voluntarily withholds from a person in danger the help they could give without risk to themselves or others, whether by direct action or by summoning aid; paragraph 1 also covers failing to prevent a crime or offence against bodily integrity.

Duty to rescue

This duty is concretely binding: failing it exposes you to three months to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 25,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs. In setting this obligation, the Senegalese legislator affirms a practical solidarity: no one should look away from a person in danger when they can act without endangering themselves. What remains is knowing how to intervene effectively — and that is precisely what training provides.

Why training matters

Facing cardiac arrest, every minute that passes without resuscitation drops the chance of survival by roughly 10 percent. In Senegal, where access to medical help can vary by place and hour, the first witness is the first link in the chain of survival: what they do in the very first minutes weighs more than all the rest. Learning CPR and first aid turns the anguish of helplessness into the ability to act. It is, very concretely, preparing to give someone their life back — a life that, without you, they would have lost.