Depends on the country you’re in. Some have Good Samaritan laws; some don’t.

But the truth is: you can always be sued. The only difference is in how far the lawsuit will go before it ends.

It really depends on the laws of where you are and what knowledge you have. A significant portion of the time if you have some nominal level of training, but less than professional training/standing then you'll be covered by 'good Samaritan' laws. (I'm only talking about the U.S.)

If you know nothing about what you're trying to do then the odds are you'll still be covered, but don't do that. If you have professional training/standing then you might be held to a higher standard.

In CPR classes and other trainings in which I was taught the Heinrich, you are supposed to get consent from the person choking before performing the maneuver. Usually you ask clearly and loudly, and assume a nod is consent. If the person goes unconscious, consent is implied for giving CPR. Whether that is legally defendable in court if they decide to sue you after the fact, I have no idea.

eh if they try, just put the food back.

You can always be sued - just depends on how strong their case against you is

Broadly in the US you would not be liable. There are exceptions such as if help was refused or if you take payment for helping then you can be held liable. And if you do something "grossly negligent" such as breaking an arm for the heimlich then you coulr be liable as well.

I would note that breaking ribs for the Heimlich or CPR is very common if not expected even done properly so even if found liable for other reasons it'd be quite hard for them to be successful at suing you.

Depends on how you cook it..

With this and chest compressions, I always thought that broken ribs were almost a given.

Rest assured Dr. Henry Heimlich will sue your ass into the ground for using his name for that "maneuver." It's to be called the abdominal thrust maneuver.

As with similar questions, it depends on where you are.

Most places have some version of a good Samaritan coverage for such things, as long as you're acting in good faith. But not all places do

Nah, if you're breaking ribs with the Heimlich, you aren't doing it right. The goal is to provide the "push" under the ribs, not to squeeze the chest.

There's certainly room for it to happen, but it isn't the default. I'm a big dude, used to be strong enough to heft a 400 pound lady out of the shower floor solo because there wasn't room for a machine, and nobody else could fit in the shower.

So, when I say I've done the Heimlich plenty, and never even cracked a rib, much less that kind of rice krispie fractures possible during chest compressions, it's saying something.

Side note, it is one hell of a trippy experience sometimes. Like, in the nursing homes, you know you're going to be doing it plenty, sp it takes on a certain humdrum reality. "Oh, Mr Magoo is choking again, better pop that out. He good now? Yup, he's fine, digging back into dinner."

But sitting around someone's dinner table and they get something stuck, and you clear it, and everyone just goes back to their meal like nothing happened, not even a comment on it? That is trippy as hell.

Shoves wad of balled meat down the plaintiff's throat in court then dusts off hands performatively. "There we go, mistake rectified. We good, your honor?"

Only if you have a boner.

And some (for example, most of continental Europe) take it further and have a duty to assist, where if there's no one more qualified to help you are required to do your best to assist.

Where do you live? In most countries such a case wouldn’t have a chance to end up in court.

I would guess that’s as much about making sure you don’t try to perform the Heimlich on someone who doesn’t actually need it, but would probably cover OP’s concern

I once rescued somebody with the heimlich, and I can’t imagine how I could have broken a rib? I grabbed her below the ribs, pulled hard on the upper belly and the lodged object flew out in an arc.

No.

Legal Eagle had a video where he answered this question a while back. I don't remember the exact one, tho; it was one where he answers a bunch of questions as opposed to a single topic of discussion.

I was told this during my first aid training. I was also told that if I'm sued, and was following the training I was provided (St John Ambulance, UK) they would cover liability. Only the training though, no tracheotomy with a biro lol. In addition, a quick search says, there has never been a successful case of suing a first aider in the UK, and the SARAH Act has further strengthened this position.

i remember an episode of royal pains, on USA. where the 2 doctors(the lead actor and the woman doc) were sitting at a restaurant and someone start choking, the lady doc said wait to see anyone is helping just incase they become liable to be sued for being the first to respond in case the "patient dies or becomes injured. only after some deliberation they intervened. the lady wanted someone to intervened so they wont be held legally liable in the end if something should happen.

the problem is you need to spend legal fees, and time to defend yourself even against a frivilous lawsuit. some people are "vexacious litigious"(legal term for sue-happy) just to drown you in legal fees.

Ah St. John Ambulance, inventor of the Ambulances, great guy.

This is absolutely the primary reason why people are taught to do this. If they're having something like an anaphylactic reaction, heimlich could complicate things or delay care long enough they die. As a bonus, it can also help with the legal repercussions after the fact too, but that's secondary to its role in emergency treatment.

There's another one that's taught in the same spirit: if someone needs an epi-pen you should put it in their hand and "help them" inject themselves. As I understand it this one does also offer useful legal protection, since very few places with Good Samaritan laws have extended them to cover administration of medication, but its primary use is establishing nonverbal consent to treatment. Either you were helping them treat themselves, or they were so weak they couldn't prevent you from helping them thus you were helping an incapacitated person to the best of your ability.

Legal questions can't be answered without information on jurisdiction.

Usually the answer is: yes, you can be sued because you can be sued for anything (suing just means: asking a court to award damages, not actually getting them), doesn't mean the person suing you will get very far.

Case dismissed.

That will be $10,000 in legal fees.

Laws vary by location, without a location we cannot tell you an accurate answer.

In the US, you're typically protected by good Samaritan laws, so a lawsuit could be filed, but it would almost certainly be dismissed outright.

You can be sued for whatever, but it's unlikely to be treated seriously by the judge or jury unless there's video that could prove the injury was intentional.

I would help family members and maybe some very close friends but everyone else sorry but no.

No good deed goes unpunished.