SEEK HELP Act

The SEEK HELP Act (Samaritan Efforts to Ensure Key Health Emergency and Life-saving Protections Act) would create federal protections intended to encourage people to seek or provide help during overdoses. It provides civil immunity for individuals who administer an opioid overdose reversal drug (like naloxone) in good faith, and it offers criminal liability protections for people who seek medical assistance for a person overdosing (or for themselves) in a timely and good-faith manner. The bill also directs public awareness campaigns and training for law enforcement, and it authorizes federal and state funding mechanisms to support these efforts. It establishes a federal baseline that would complement, and in some respects preempt, existing state Good Samaritan laws, and it requires a GAO study within two years to assess effectiveness and implementation. Key components include definitions of terms (such as opioid overdose reversal drugs and what counts as seeking medical assistance), civil and criminal protections, a public-awareness mandate, funding provisions to support outreach and training, and a formal evaluation plan to track impact and implementation.