I'm in Calif and have taken ARC first aid many times. We're always told to first announce to the victim we've had first aid or CPR training and would they permit us to render assistance, before providing any aid.

If they refuse, then don't aid. If they accept you should be okay so long as you operate within guidelines--follow your training. And a guideline is to not move somebody suspected of having a spinal injury unless there's a more imminent threat, e.g., fire. The assumption is that paralysis is preferable to burning to death.

There's also implied consent. An unconscious adult or any minor is presumed by law to have provided implied consent. Again, any aid provided needs to be prudent--within training guidelines. Interestingly, if a conscious person refuses help and then passes out, implied consent is thereby given.

I don't find myself the least concerned by this recent ruling, as it doesn't seem as though the person assisting was trained. I won't worry about assisting anybody, so long as I follow the ARC training.

Legislation can address this in the future, but I'm not convinced it's needed based on this case.

My $0.02