Medical Amnesty and Good Samaritan Policies

“Medical amnesty” or “good Samaritan” policies are health protection strategies used on some campuses to encourage students to seek medical attention for a fellow student suffering an alcohol or other drug (AOD) overdose. Under these policies, students are not sanctioned by the university for AOD violations.

Many campuses use the terms “medical amnesty” and “good Samaritan” interchangeably. Generally speaking, the policies provide protection from campus sanctions for violating AOD policies to one or more of the following: (1) the individual in distress, (2) a bystander who seeks medical assistance for an intoxicated student, (3) a campus organization or group that calls for help for a member or guest.

These policies and their application differ from campus to campus, based on each institution’s individualized needs. Additionally, medical amnesty and good Samaritan policies concern only campus-based policies and sanctions. Students may still be subject to legal consequences for violating AOD laws.

The Arguments For and Against These Policies

Proponents maintain that medical amnesty and good Samaritan policies reduce barriers to help-seeking behavior by students. Supporters believe that these policies can help avoid the very serious adverse consequences of AOD overdose, including death. They argue that students will be more willing to call for medical assistance for an intoxicated peer if there isn’t the threat of campus judicial or legal repercussions for violating AOD policies.

Opponents argue that, by removing these repercussions, such policies may enable or encourage future AOD abuse among students. Additionally, because in many cases these policies may seem to conflict with other “zero tolerance” AOD policies on campus, some believe they send students mixed messages about the institution’s attitude about AOD use.

Effective Prevention

Research to determine whether these policies have a positive effect on help-seeking behavior is inconclusive. As with any AOD-related policy, medical amnesty and good Samaritan policies should be considered within the context of an environmental management framework, as linking prevention strategies and interventions together in a comprehensive approach enhances the effectiveness of each component. Careful strategic planning can help prevention professionals identify tools likely to be helpful on an individual campus.

For instance, a thorough and thoughtful needs assessment can determine whether students on a particular campus are more likely to get help for an intoxicated friend if they know they will not face campus sanctions or get their friends in trouble. If fear of repercussions is not a barrier to help-seeking, focusing time and money on creating and implementing medical amnesty or good Samaritan policies may divert valuable resources that could be used on more effective strategies.

The following resources provide information for further discussion on medical amnesty and good Samaritan issues, and offer campus examples of these policies.

Literature:

• Oster-Aaland, L. and Eighmy, M. – Medical Amnesty Policies: Research is Needed (2007).
• Lewis, D. and Marchell, T. – Safety First: A Medical Amnesty Approach to Alcohol Poisoning at a U.S. University (2006).

Additional Resources:

• Higher Education Center – Health Protection Web page (2008).
• Higher Education Center – “Medical Amnesty – Effective or Not?” Catalyst (Fall 2007), Vol. 10, No. 2.
• University of Georgia Red and Black editorial board – Give Us Amnesty (2007).
• Chapman, R. – Medical Amnesty: Professional Enabling or Indicated Prevention? (2005).
• National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse – Developing Institutional Policies (2005).