Duty to Act

The mother of two children killed in a fire in South Africa last week is blaming the deaths on striking firefighters. Susan Mziyizani claims the refusal of firefighters to respond to a fire in Orange Farm led to a nearly two hour delay and the deaths of her two sons.

Read More »

The refusal of a Detroit EMT to respond to a home where an infant was not breathing has led to a wrongful death suit by the infant's mother. On May 30, 2015 EMT Ann Marie Thomas parked her unit on a street corner away from the scene while waiting for other units to arrive, an act her supervisors referred to as “depraved indifference”.

Read More »

In this episode, Curt explores the connection between the law relating to duty to act and real life in a discussion with Fire Commissioner Dave Phillips, of the Washingtonville Fire District, in New York State. Commissioner Phillips suffered a heart attack and was brought back to life thorough the valiant efforts of his son, an FDNY firefighter, and a local EMS unit.

Read More »

A Detroit Fire Department EMT has been terminated for refusing to respond into the scene of an infant in cardiac arrest in what her supervisors have called an act of “depraved indifference”. The incident occurred May 30, 2015 and the child later died.

Read More »

People in the wildland fire community will be familiar with the Yarnell Hill Fire of 2013. This fire occurred in 2013 and led to the death of 19 firefighters, all members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots team. Only one member of the team survived. Apart from this tragedy a number of homes were lost to the fire and homeowners sued the Arizona State Forestry Division (ASFD) claiming that the division ‘negligently failed to protect them from harm that resulted from the Fire’.

Read More »

Today’s burning question: Could a medic who fails to obtain an informed refusal from a patient who does not speak English be liable? Could the fire department be held liable for not providing refusal forms in other languages?

Read More »

The Hartford Fire Department is facing new scrutiny over the failure to complete state-mandated fire inspections. The department has faced mounting criticisms since last October when FF Kevin Bell was killed in a house fire and FF Jason Martinez was seriously injured.

Read More »

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled that the City of Milwaukee must stand trial over its response to a gas leak in 2009 that resulted in a house explosion. The incident occurred on February 2, 2009 when firefighters were dispatched to the 2400 block of North 10th Street for a reported odor of natural gas...

Read More »

A recent headline about a wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado caught my eye in part because it appeared to involve an EMS incident gone wrong and in part because it appeared to involve a hospital accused of callously closing its ER after hours without warning area residents. The truth appears to be neither. A grieving widow is certainly entitled to seek answers to her questions. I too am left with questions...

Read More »

Today’s burning question: Our township provides fire and EMS coverage to an area that includes a city. City officials negotiated a tax incentive agreement with the developers of a new commercial shopping center that significantly reduces the tax burden on the property. Their generosity is now going to reduce our annual assessment on the property from $230,000 to $85,000...

Read More »

The wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Fire Department and five other defendants arising out of the shooting of a Transportation Security Administration agent at Los Angeles International Airport in 2013 has been removed to federal court.

Read More »

The family of a man who died in 2013 has filed suit against a California fire department, a fire chief and others who the family claims are to blame for the man's death. The complaint includes allegations that a Yermo Fire Department captain cancelled a responding ALS ambulance long before he arrived on scene because he believed the patient was a “constant complainer” ...

Read More »

A fire department in upstate New York has been sued following the death of a high school football player from injuries he sustained in a game. Damon James, 16, died on September 16, 2013 and according to the suit, the fire department refused to bring an ambulance onto the field “putting concerns about property damage ahead of the lives and safety of student athletes.”

Read More »

Today’s burning question: I’m a career firefighter. Two years ago I was elected to the state legislature. I have always been careful not to use my position with the fire department for campaigning or political purposes. Unbeknownst to me folks in my political party used a photo of me in my fire department uniform...

Read More »