It is common conception that members of the public are worried about rendering first aid to people they may come across in public that are experiencing a medical episode because they don't want to get in to trouble and open themselves up to a legal action. There is evidence to suggest that people are deterred from volunteering, helping others or intervening in an emergency due to the fear of risk and/or liability. “Helping out: a national survey of volunteering and charitable giving” in 2006/2007 found that this was one of the significant reasons cited by 47% of respondents to the survey who did not currently volunteer.

In 2015, parliament passed legislation that counteracts this misconception in an attempt to improve confidence in members of the public so they can assist without worrying about ramifications of legal action from the person or their family. This legislation is the 'Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015, also known as the Good Samaritan Act.

To quote from current law;

'For a person to be found negligent or in breach of such a statutory duty the court must be satisfied that he or she owed the injured party a duty of care and that his or her conduct fell short of the applicable standard of care.'

This means that should you come across someone, in need of medical assistance, and providing you are acting reasonably, there is no 'owed duty of care'. An example of owed duty of care would be a land owner having a duty of care over visitors and trespassers on their land. 

Facts of the bill can be found here.