A while back, when I wrote about the duty to act, I emphasized the idea that the duty to act only extends to “on-duty” medical personnel. In fact, my exact words were,
“If you are a trained medical professional and you are acting with an expectation of compensation you have a duty to act appropriately and within the scope of your training when called to assist with an emergency situation.”
I figured I should emphasize the idea that trained EMTs don’t have a duty to act when they aren’t being compensated for their services. This seemed to be the point of greatest confusion. I never thought much about making it clear that while you are on duty, working as an EMT, you are required to act.
I know … it seems painfully obvious. I thought so too. But over the past few weeks, there have just been a slew of stories that seem to fly in the face of the obvious.
First, there was the strange story of the UK paramedic who watched his EMT partner deliver a non-breathing child, didn’t call for any assistance, then watched her try to resuscitate the child. To his credit, he did drive her to the hospital while she continued the resuscitation attempt in the back.
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This week I’d like to explore two related topics that tend to create a bunch of confusion – the duty to act and the good Samaritan law. If you want to see a room full of EMTs argue with each other, ask a 
question like, “So, when does an EMT have a legal duty to act?” or “To whom does the good sam law really apply?” These are subjects where myth and confusion are more common than fact so lets jump in to these two, often confusing, legal tenants.
Today we’ll look at the duty to act and on Thursday we’ll dive in to the good samaritan law.
On duty or off duty, paid or volunteer, in or out of uniform, when do you, as a professional rescuer really have a legal duty to act? Once you have a duty to act, what does that mean for your care and your liability? The true meaning of the duty to act can be confusing.
One of the things that make legal definitions like the duty to act so hard to nail down is the fact that they are not elements of federal law. They can’t be applied universally to caregivers around the nation. If they were we could say, “Here in the United States the duty to act is defined as … This is different from Canada and Great Britain where …” But it isn’t that simple. Depending on which country, state or territory you live in, the duty to act can mean very different things.
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