Mounted search and rescue

["IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>]

The discussion on spontaneous volunteers mentioned Good Samaritan laws.  The definition of a Good Samaritan law is that an actor is granted civil immunity from damages caused by his actions for certain acts of assistance given to others.  There is no blanket “get out of jail free” card here. Regardless of the law’s intent a judge, and sometimes a jury, must agree that the statute applies to the actions and dismiss you from the lawsuit.  This can cost lots of money.

 

The persons protected by these laws generally are not being paid by the person they are working on or are under the official mandate of a person carrying out official duties.  Example: A hospital employee is ordered by a police person to obtain a blood sample for drug testing after an accident as mandated by state and federal law.

The employee is not liable for the results of the tests convicting the operator for DUI.  The employee is responsible for performing the extraction correctly and without

harming the patient further.  Most states provide that first aid, CPR and AED usage performed by a person with a level of training is an immune act as long as scope of practice is not exceeded. Child abuse and domestic violence acts usually include a provision that protects care providers that report suspicious marks, bruises, etc from damages and may even mandate such reports with the carrot of immunity and the stick of license suspension.  As a driver you may be obligated in your state to stop and offer assistance at any car crash, regardless of training and equipment, as part of your license obligations.  Failing to stop, and especially if you have MD or EMS plates, can be costly.

 

The key here is that the person performing the act gets the immunity, not his employer, and only for actions not within their job description.  People being paid to act must act and do so correctly in the face of hind sight and armchair experts’ opinions bought by plaintiffs.  In some states there is sovereign immunity.  This means you cannot sue the government without its permission.  In other states you cannot sue an individual responder but must sue the employer (municipality). And in most states you sue everybody.   

 

Our liability insurance covers whatever our members do to others, including property damage, while on official business.  We have a SOG that defines what training time is, a SOG that defines how we are dispatched to an emergency (with a procedure on file at the dispatch center), and the policy itself defines fundraising and other administrative functions. 

 

One interesting provision is Good Samaritan Defense.  This means even if we think immunity exists we turn the complaint over to the carrier who hires, and pays for,

the lawyers needed to enforce the immunity.  The limit on this expenditure is the limit of the policy, $1,000,000 US. It covers all members, officers, and commandeered resources.  The policy was written by a specialty carrier who insures volunteer fire companies and is one of the most experienced carriers in this risk area.

 

Irv Lichtenstein