I was listening to the radio this afternoon and was disgusted to hear that a person who saved somebody else´s life by giving them first aid is now being sued by this person as the first aid they gave them has left them scared even thought the injury they had sustained would have probably left a scar anyway. This is even though the treatment they where given no doubt saved their life.

I was also disgusted to hear that this not a isolated case and that several other people, some of them Ambulance men have also been involved in similar scenarios when they have administered first aid and have saved somebody else´s life. We´re not talking about a little injury here either some are real life threatening problems, among them, a choking where the Heimlich manoeuvre was administered and another case where a woman had been in an vehicle against pedestrian accident and had stopped breathing.

The man who was choking to death and was given the Heimlich manoeuvre sued the man who saved his life because he had performed the manoeuvre incorrectly firstly and had fractured and severely bruised this mans ribs. The accident where the woman had stopped breathing was given CPR by a person who had stopped to give her help and was sued because the CPR caused internal bleeding as the woman had broken ribs after being hit by a car. However in both cases these people survived, only to sue their rescuers.

It appears as though in our every day - sue everybody culture that even saving somebody´s life isn´t immunity from being sued!

People voluntarily take first aid courses so that they can help save someone´s life if the need arises, the last thing you´d expect after saving somebody´s life is for them to jump up and sue your ass!

I am one of these people who has spent time and effort learning how to save life if I have to, but in the light of events such as these it does make you think before you spring into action or does it? I carry a first aid kit, quite a comprehensive one as well in both my cars and would never give it a thought about using it in an emergency. Now however I just might depends on the circumstances!

Even the advice given on the radio said “Think before you jump in to save some ones life”

What a sad state it is that you have to wonder if you´ll be sued if you save somebody´s life.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed below are strictly those of the individual author/poster. The views and opinions shown below are not necessarily those of Mike Porter, his associates and/or sponsors. We do not endorse any view below or necessarily agree/disagree with these views. Views posted below are entirely those of the poster, not me!

Don´t panic
No one has actually managed to sue a first aider in the UK. There was a famous case Cattley vs St John Ambulance Brigade, 1988 where Judge Prosser QC reaffirmed the Bolum principle (did they do the same as someone with the same training and qualification would have done). Google the case for more information.

Unless someone did something outrageously different than what the offical first aid manual states or what a first aider with the same skills would have done they aren t going to get sued.

Under certain circumstances (teachers at school, first aiders in workplace and colleagues) a first aider may have a duty of care and could be sued for NOT treating someone.

At the end of the day if someone dies it s the coroner who gets the last word. I d rather tell the coroner I did the best I could to save their life, as per my training than say ""I stood and watched them die""... much the same as being able to look myself in the eye when I shave in the morning and know I did what I could.

mykp says:
good to know that and you last paragraph is one of the reasons I would never stand by even if there was a risk of being sued.

Posted by: Elliott on 17 October 2011

First Aid and being Sued

The law takes into consideration all the circumstances, including the person’s knowledge, experience and skill and the way that knowledge, experience and skill was acquired and applied, to establish whether the person behaved reasonably (even if they in fact got something wrong). Therefore someone who participated in a short first aid awareness session, read a newspaper article or a manual, would not be expected to have the same skills as someone who has been trained to a high level.

Despite the thousands of hours of first aid and first aid education provided by training providers, there has not been a successful claim brought against a first aider in the last 10 years.

In order for someone to be sued they would have to be proven to be purposely trying to harm the casualty.

Posted by: Debbie Parkes on 16 May 2011

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