[rrc]

Many years ago when I attended First Aid/CPR training from the American Red Cross, I was told that you can actually get in serious trouble for performing CPR without a valid license. They explained that it's quite common to break ribs while performing chest compressions and these broken ribs can puncture a lung. If the individual you're helping only had a very weak pulse that you missed, you might have just made things a lot worse, perhaps even killing them.

I was told having an active AMR license legally protects you from any such accidents - especially since you are obliged to assist - but if you're untrained and unlicensed you could be held responsible (manslaughter?). Is this still the case?

[hga]

See this for a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law