Delaware has two Good Samaritan Laws that offer protection for individuals helping someone who has overdosed from drugs or alcohol.

KNOW THE LAWS

TITLE 16, 4769
protects individuals who request medical assistance for someone who is overdosing. It also protects both the caller and the person in medical distress from being arrested for possession of an
illegal substance.

TITLE 16, 6801
protects those who administer naloxone to someone who is overdosing from opioids — such as heroin, fentanyl, or oxycodone — from civil suit. Naloxone is a lifesaving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.

​KNOW THE HISTORY​

“If we had a 9-1-1 Good Samaritan Law or a Narcan law, your son might very well be alive.”

Those words, spoken by a detective, spurred the parents of overdose victim Greg Humes into action.

atTAcK addiction members agreed that the best approach to create change was to work on passing an immunity law. To craft the legislation, we sought out community members who were in short- or long-term recovery as well as those who were still active users. The top reason that people wouldn’t call 9-1-1 in the event of a suspected overdose was the fear of arrest. We had to educate members of the General Assembly.

In the end, the final legislation passed without a vote against it in either chamber of the General Assembly. The Kristen L. Jackson & John M. Perkins Jr. Law grants immunity from arrest, charge, or prosecution to the person in medical distress and the person making the life-saving call. The legislation also provides immunity for underage individuals who make the call when the situation involves alcohol. The law was signed on July 2, 2013.​

Whether it’s making a lifesaving call, or administering lifesaving medications for an overdose, individuals trying to save a life are protected by
Delaware’s laws.

Have questions about the Delaware 9-1-1 Good Samaritan Laws?

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