Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.037 (2026)

Emergency care, no civil liability, exceptions (Good Samaritan law)

✓ current as of May 2026
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  537.037.  Emergency care, no civil liability, exceptions (Good Samaritan law). — 1.  Any physician or surgeon, registered professional nurse or licensed practical nurse licensed to practice in this state under the provisions of chapter 334 or 335, or licensed to practice under the equivalent laws of any other state and any person licensed as an emergency medical technician under the provisions of chapter 190, may:

  (1)  In good faith render emergency care or assistance, without compensation, at the scene of an emergency or accident, and shall not be liable for any civil damages for acts or omissions other than damages occasioned by gross negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions by such person in rendering such emergency care;

  (2)  In good faith render emergency care or assistance, without compensation, to any minor involved in an accident, or in competitive sports, or other emergency at the scene of an accident, without first obtaining the consent of the parent or guardian of the minor, and shall not be liable for any civil damages other than damages occasioned by gross negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions by such person in rendering the emergency care.

  2.  Any other person who has been trained to provide first aid in a standard recognized training program may, without compensation, render emergency care or assistance to the level for which he or she has been trained, at the scene of an emergency or accident, and shall not be liable for civil damages for acts or omissions other than damages occasioned by gross negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions by such person in rendering such emergency care.

  3.  Any mental health professional, as defined in section 632.005, or qualified counselor, as defined in section 631.005, or any practicing medical, osteopathic, or chiropractic physician, or certified nurse practitioner, or physicians' assistant may in good faith render suicide prevention interventions at the scene of a threatened suicide and shall not be liable for any civil damages for acts or omissions other than damages occasioned by gross negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions by such person in rendering such suicide prevention interventions.

  4.  Any other person may, without compensation, render suicide prevention interventions at the scene of a threatened suicide and shall not be liable for civil damages for acts or omissions other than damages occasioned by gross negligence or by willful or wanton acts or omissions by such person in rendering such suicide prevention interventions.

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(L. 1979 H.B. 445 § 1, A.L. 1983 1st Ex. Sess. H.B. 8, A.L. 1986 H.B. 860, A.L. 2005 H.B. 462 & 463, A.L. 2008 S.B. 1081, A.L. 2023 H.B. 402 merged with S.B. 24 merged with S.B. 186)

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1989–2012 · leading case: State v. Liberty, 370 S.W.3d 537 (Mo. 2012).
State v. Liberty, 370 S.W.3d 537 (Mo. 2012). · cites it 2× “But because the prior precedents from the court of appeals did not give clear guidance as to the meaning of the statute, and because this matter was not raised or preserved below, the State was unaware that conviction on the additional seven counts would require it to present…”
Harrell v. Total Health Care, Inc., 781 S.W.2d 58 (Mo. 1989). · cites it 4× “Pratt, 687 S.W.2d 184 (Mo. banc 1985). [3] Respondents cite in their brief several examples of statutory grants of immunity including: § 332.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.