4 ms·

That nobody has been sued for this in the UK does appear to be a common belief amongst professional organisations. "Despite the fact that no-one in the UK has

That nobody has been sued for this in the UK does appear to be a common belief amongst professional organisations. "Despite the fact that no-one in the UK has been sued for providing first aid, it is a common fear that we’re regularly asked about." - Joe Mulligan, British Red Cross, 2015 "Although potential legal liability arising from good samaritan acts is something about which we're regularly asked by healthcare professionals, in practice we have never encountered a UK doctor, paramedic, nurse or other healthcare professional being sued after providing this kind of emergency assistance." - Shoosmiths, a major UK law firm that I have heard described as "Ambulance Chasers". It seems to be common in the US for people to get sued for helping. Not so much in the UK, and following the 2105 SARAH act, which creates additional protections for such people, now even less likely.

cmdkeen 10y ago
Devon Air Ambulance used to tell a story, possibly apocryphal, about a callout to the middle of Dartmoor. In the course of treating a woman they had to cut off her cashmere top. After the incident they received a demand from the woman to pay for the damage done to her top, valued at several hundred pounds. They replied that they would of course pay if she would reimburse them for the cost of the flight - enclosing a bill for £10,000. Answer came there none.
- EliRivers 10y ago
  I do know that sometimes people do seek to start legal proceedings against emergency services. I worked with a fireman once who told me of a lady who wanted to start legal proceedings for some kind of assault based on how a fireman picked her up to carry her out of a building. Again, came to nothing. In this day and age, if we cannot find any UK instance of someone being sued for providing first aid, I think we can label it "urban myth". Maybe some obsessive HN reader will find one for us :)
  - DanBC 10y ago
    http://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/dutyofcare/ http://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/dutyofcare/ > The most important thing to remember is that to date, no one in the UK has ever been sued for administering life-saving First Aid. But also: http://www.sa-cni.org.uk/uploads/4/9/5/4/4954631/the_legal_status_of_those_who_provide_first_aid.pdf http://www.sa-cni.org.uk/uploads/4/9/5/4/4954631/the_legal_s... > There have been some cases in the UK where a claim has been brought against a ‘rescuer’, although there have been no reported cases in court where a casualty has successfully sued someone. > • Out-of-court settlements are more common and go unreported, so it is likely that some claims against a rescuer have been ‘successful’, but these will have gone unreported. > • It should be noted that even if a first aider is successful in defending himself against a claim, it is unlikely that he will be able to recover the full legal costs in defending himself. In civil litigation, it is unusual for a court to award the successful party more than 80% of their costs and it’s possible that an accusation can cost tens of thousands of pounds to defend. > • In some instances it can be less expensive to settle a claim out of court than to defend it. It is not uncommon for insurers to settle claims even when the defendant was innocent, as this is the least expensive and least risky option.
- mikeash 10y ago
  This story took me a moment to process as an American, because here you'd get that bill regardless of whether you complained, and they wouldn't be joking about it!
  - cmdkeen 10y ago
    In England and Wales all the air ambulances are charities, though receiving government funds. Much like the lifeboat provision by the RNLI it is a story of very different service provision than a purely state run institution would provide.

cmdkeen 10y ago

Devon Air Ambulance used to tell a story, possibly apocryphal, about a callout to the middle of Dartmoor. In the course of treating a woman they had to cut off her cashmere top. After the incident they received a demand from the woman to pay for the damage done to her top, valued at several hundred pounds. They replied that they would of course pay if she would reimburse them for the cost of the flight - enclosing a bill for £10,000. Answer came there none.

EliRivers 10y ago
I do know that sometimes people do seek to start legal proceedings against emergency services. I worked with a fireman once who told me of a lady who wanted to start legal proceedings for some kind of assault based on how a fireman picked her up to carry her out of a building. Again, came to nothing. In this day and age, if we cannot find any UK instance of someone being sued for providing first aid, I think we can label it "urban myth". Maybe some obsessive HN reader will find one for us :)
- DanBC 10y ago
  http://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/dutyofcare/ http://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/dutyofcare/ > The most important thing to remember is that to date, no one in the UK has ever been sued for administering life-saving First Aid. But also: http://www.sa-cni.org.uk/uploads/4/9/5/4/4954631/the_legal_status_of_those_who_provide_first_aid.pdf http://www.sa-cni.org.uk/uploads/4/9/5/4/4954631/the_legal_s... > There have been some cases in the UK where a claim has been brought against a ‘rescuer’, although there have been no reported cases in court where a casualty has successfully sued someone. > • Out-of-court settlements are more common and go unreported, so it is likely that some claims against a rescuer have been ‘successful’, but these will have gone unreported. > • It should be noted that even if a first aider is successful in defending himself against a claim, it is unlikely that he will be able to recover the full legal costs in defending himself. In civil litigation, it is unusual for a court to award the successful party more than 80% of their costs and it’s possible that an accusation can cost tens of thousands of pounds to defend. > • In some instances it can be less expensive to settle a claim out of court than to defend it. It is not uncommon for insurers to settle claims even when the defendant was innocent, as this is the least expensive and least risky option.
mikeash 10y ago
This story took me a moment to process as an American, because here you'd get that bill regardless of whether you complained, and they wouldn't be joking about it!
- cmdkeen 10y ago
  In England and Wales all the air ambulances are charities, though receiving government funds. Much like the lifeboat provision by the RNLI it is a story of very different service provision than a purely state run institution would provide.