Guest guest Posted January 6, 1999 Report Share Posted January 6, 1999 Greetings Everyone; I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on Good Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in Texas state as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer personnel who respond to calls. My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel due to the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group of Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to know if my information is correct. They will be trained at the First Responder/ECA level. Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for your help. Danny L. EMT-P I/E ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 1999 Report Share Posted January 6, 1999 It is my understanding that the Good Samaritan law apples to any person who does not have the duty to act. The conflict is that when does the volunteer start the duty to act. The way I understand it is that if you as a volunteer accept the call for a volunteer, then you are under the same duty to act as any other emergency personnel. If you are under the duty to act then the Standard of care doctrine is used instead of the Good Samaritan act. , EMT -P Public Education Officer Nacogdoches County EMS [] Good Samaritan Laws Greetings Everyone; I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on Good Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in Texas state as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer personnel who respond to calls. My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel due to the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group of Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to know if my information is correct. They will be trained at the First Responder/ECA level. Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for your help. Danny L. EMT-P I/E Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Tennessee Florida St. Rose Bowl Presented by AT & T Wisconsin UCLA FedEx Orange Bowl Syracuse Florida Nokia Sugar Bowl Texas A & M Ohio St. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 1999 Report Share Posted January 6, 1999 The way I understand it, if the volunteer is acting as part of a volunteer service, then he is considered " on duty. " ..... Eddie on, EMT-P [] Good Samaritan Laws Greetings Everyone; I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on Good Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in Texas state as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer personnel who respond to calls. My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel due to the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group of Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to know if my information is correct. They will be trained at the First Responder/ECA level. Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for your help. Danny L. EMT-P I/E Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Tennessee Florida St. Rose Bowl Presented by AT & T Wisconsin UCLA FedEx Orange Bowl Syracuse Florida Nokia Sugar Bowl Texas A & M Ohio St. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 1999 Report Share Posted January 6, 1999 The way I understand it, if you are a volunteer that is responding to a call on part of a volunteer service, than you are considered " on duty. " . If anyone knows any different, please, let me know. Eddie on, EMT-P [] Good Samaritan Laws Greetings Everyone; I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on Good Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in Texas state as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer personnel who respond to calls. My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel due to the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group of Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to know if my information is correct. They will be trained at the First Responder/ECA level. Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for your help. Danny L. EMT-P I/E ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Bowl Championship Series on ESPN.com. We are there. Join us... http://offers./click/183/0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 1999 Report Share Posted January 6, 1999 According to Vernon's Statutes: TDH EMT Personnel ARE covered even if they are paid for their service as long as they are not willfully or wantonly negligent. Dr. Gordon On Wed, 6 Jan 1999 11:40:05 EST Dannylisaj@... writes: >Greetings Everyone; > > I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on >Good >Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in >Texas state >as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer >personnel who >respond to calls. > > My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel >due to >the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group >of >Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to >know if my >information is correct. They will be trained at the First >Responder/ECA >level. > > Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for >your >help. > > >Danny L. >EMT-P I/E > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >The Bowl Championship Series on ESPN.com. >We are there. Join us... >http://offers./click/183/0 > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 1999 Report Share Posted January 6, 1999 GS doesn't offer much real protection. It only protects you if your actions were not "willful or wanton." Now, those words translate to gross negligence. And GS affords no protection if you don't assert it in the paperwork of the lawsuit. A major misunderstanding among EMS people concerns the protection of the GS statute. You MUST answer the suit and plead the GS as an affirmative defense or it does you no good whatsoever. So if you treat a patient and adhere to the Standard of Care as defined by all the gurus who define Standard of Care, you're not going to be liable to begin with. You're covered if you make a little boo-boo. But if the little boo-boo grows into a big boo-boo, then you may be found to be grossly negligent. If you're grossly negligent, then you haven't adhered to the SOC. If you did adhere to the SOC, then you're not grossly negligent. Moral to Story: Don't rely upon the Good Samaritan Statute. Rely instead upon delivery of the recognized Standard of Care and document it! Lawyers are very creative, and if you've done something that most people (as in members of a jury) would find reprehensible, then you're gonna be sued. Use the "Is this how you would treat my mother" test. The appeals cases deal with arguments that come after the original trial of the case, i.e. the nuances of the law. Before you get to appeals court, you've got to go through the trial court, which is a major disruption in most people's lives. Gene Gandy, JD, EMT-P Nacogdoches County Emergency Medical Services Public Education Office wrote: It is my understanding that the Good Samaritan law apples to any person who does not have the duty to act. The conflict is that when does the volunteer start the duty to act.The way I understand it is that if you as a volunteer accept the call for a volunteer, then you are under the same duty to act as any other emergency personnel. If you are under the duty to act then the Standard of care doctrine is used instead of the Good Samaritan act. , EMT -PPublic Education OfficerNacogdoches County EMS [] Good Samaritan Laws Greetings Everyone; I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on Good Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in Texas state as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer personnel who respond to calls. My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel due to the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group of Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to know if my information is correct. They will be trained at the First Responder/ECA level. Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for your help. Danny L. EMT-P I/E Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Tennessee Florida St. Rose Bowl Presented by AT & T Wisconsin UCLA FedEx Orange Bowl Syracuse Florida Nokia Sugar Bowl Texas A & M Ohio St. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 7, 1999 Report Share Posted January 7, 1999 Lawyers are " creative ", is a very eloquent way to put it. Reminds me of the way one lawyer called another " dim of comprehension ". Very well put. Glad to see you back Gene. Lee Sulecki Rosehill FD Gene gandy wrote: GS doesn't offer much real protection. It only protects you if your actions were not "willful or wanton." Now, those words translate to gross negligence. And GS affords no protection if you don't assert it in the paperwork of the lawsuit. A major misunderstanding among EMS people concerns the protection of the GS statute. You MUST answer the suit and plead the GS as an affirmative defense or it does you no good whatsoever. So if you treat a patient and adhere to the Standard of Care as defined by all the gurus who define Standard of Care, you're not going to be liable to begin with. You're covered if you make a little boo-boo. But if the little boo-boo grows into a big boo-boo, then you may be found to be grossly negligent. If you're grossly negligent, then you haven't adhered to the SOC. If you did adhere to the SOC, then you're not grossly negligent. Moral to Story: Don't rely upon the Good Samaritan Statute. Rely instead upon delivery of the recognized Standard of Care and document it! Lawyers are very creative, and if you've done something that most people (as in members of a jury) would find reprehensible, then you're gonna be sued. Use the "Is this how you would treat my mother" test. The appeals cases deal with arguments that come after the original trial of the case, i.e. the nuances of the law. Before you get to appeals court, you've got to go through the trial court, which is a major disruption in most people's lives. Gene Gandy, JD, EMT-P Nacogdoches County Emergency Medical Services Public Education Office wrote: It is my understanding that the Good Samaritan law apples to any person who does not have the duty to act. The conflict is that when does the volunteer start the duty to act.The way I understand it is that if you as a volunteer accept the call for a volunteer, then you are under the same duty to act as any other emergency personnel. If you are under the duty to act then the Standard of care doctrine is used instead of the Good Samaritan act. , EMT -PPublic Education OfficerNacogdoches County EMS [] Good Samaritan Laws Greetings Everyone; I have a question to put out for discussion and my clarrification on Good Samaritan Laws. Does anyone know what the good samaritan laws in Texas state as far as Emergency medical personnel? Specifically volunteer personnel who respond to calls. My understanding is that the laws don't apply to emergency personnel due to the extra training that we go through. I am about to instruct a group of Search and Rescue personnel who are volunteers and I am curious to know if my information is correct. They will be trained at the First Responder/ECA level. Any and all information will be helpful and Thankyou in advance for your help. Danny L. EMT-P I/E Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Tennessee Florida St. Rose Bowl Presented by AT & T Wisconsin UCLA FedEx Orange Bowl Syracuse Florida Nokia Sugar Bowl Texas A & M Ohio St. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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