Duty to rescue

Duty to rescue is a concept that many law systems have: In certain cirumstances, someone can be held responsible for not helping another person who is in danger, and who would be injured, or who would die, if not helped. People are required to help to the best of their abilities. As a bare minimum, this often means alerting emergency services.

Not all law systems have this concept, and in general the following is true:

• The person helping must be able to recognize the situation
• The danger must be immediate: That is: not helping will mean injury or death
• There is no requirement to help, if helping would put the helpers in danger.
• The duty may also exist in the case of "special relationships" (such as: being part of the same family, being married, working at the same company...)
• Some professions (such as healthcare professional, midwives,...) have an extended duty to help

Those helping are often protected by law, against errors they make.

In many cases, the duty to rescue has become customary law. This is the case for example for helping people at sea.