So... all of the suppliers have disclaimers on the purchase of decompression needles. "Must be authorized or operating under the supervision ..."

boiler plate? Or big trouble?

I did some training (after staying at a Holiday inn) with a mannequin, fake blood, chest seals and decompression needles but the training was rather informal. The expertise of the trainer unquestionable, but not a seminar offering any kind of official certs. A SHTF/TEOTWAWKI affair taught by a military medic.

Is there an "official" cert for such a device? Can joe citizen obtain such official training and certification without going through a full blown EMT course?

I figure that if *I* am ever in a position to use such a device, help is a lo-o-o-ong way away or will never be coming, so the liability risk would then be outweighed by the risk of loss of life.

You will likely need an EMT very for TCCC or TECC but the lawsuit will be dependent that the course you taken, covered needle decompression.

The legal protection for good Samaritan is based on reasonable choices of your peers with level of training you have, likely defined by official certifications and credentialed education. So if you are a doctor, you will be compared to other doctors, not Joe blow on the street. And EMT and EMT, and a civilian to another civilian.

My TCCC official cert does not cover needle decompression. Yours may vary.

That is there in an effort to protect them from liability.

There are Good Samaritan Laws that are there in an attempt to protect someone from liability.

Both work, unless the act rises to the level of “gross negligence” or “willful or wanton misconduct.”

Good Samaritan Laws vary, but generally have these components:

They obtain the permission of an ill or injured victim to render aid, when possible.
They provide care in an appropriate and non-reckless manner.
They provide care due to the situation being an emergency, and trained help has not arrived yet.

Inslee expanded the Good Sam laws last year, to include when a volunteer helps in a non-medical emergency as well.

It's not only there to protect the manufacturer from liability. Generally needle decompression, just like a cricothyrotomy, is considered to be outside the protection of good samaritan law for a regular joe with anything less than some funny letters behind their name. It could be considered practicing medicine without a license, and/or gross negligence/willful or wanton misconduct to perform such a procedure without the attendant certification. Not to mention the civil liability you invite on yourself if you perform the procedure on some rando who got themselves in a jam. You would be amazed the kinds of things people get sue happy about after their life has been saved.

To the best of my knowledge the minimum cert to legally perform chest decompression is a Paramedic. Maybe some jurisdictions its Advanced EMT, but i doubt it.

Good point, and I didn’t word my response very well.

My first sentence was about the manufacturer’s effort to limit liability.

My 2nd was about the Good Sam law’s effort to limit a helpful bystander’s liability.

Then, I did an awkward segue into the gist of the law in most jurisdictions.

I wasn’t trying to give advice on the procedure, though your experience and analysis seems to indicate it could fall under the “gross negligence” that I mentioned.