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Pros and cons of the good samaritan law
Pros and cons of the good samaritan law
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The Good Samaritan Law: Response Emergency situations can call for an erratic response to someone’s life in which a person is injured or one’s life is in danger. The decision to be a hero or to be saved must be made. Despite the scenario, high emotion may be involved for both the hero and the one being saved. The hero could make the scene worse or cause more injury to the one being save. Furthermore, the hero could be sued for negligence. Issues of being sued could play an impact when a person makes the decision whether to be the hero or remain a bystander. Consequently, the “Good Samaritan Law” benefit those who could be potentially be accused of negligence after giving emergency care. However, lay responders must comply to legal regulations
to be legally covered under the “Good Samaritan Law.” The second benefit of the “Good Samaritan Law” serves the purpose to motivate people to help others in an emergency crisis. Individuals who decides to provide emergency care must be aware of legal considerations including, consent, refusal of care, and abandonment. An individual must take proper cautions when obtaining consent. Such as, identifying yourself, give your level of training, and ask for permission to help the injured or ill person. The individual or lay responder who ask to help the injured or ill person must also be aware that the injured or ill person has legal rights to refuse care. Lastly the individual must understand that once the person gives permission for help then the emergency care provider is legally responsible to continue care for that individual until professional rescue arrives to the scene. All three legal considerations are an underlying factors how the “Good Samaritan Law” protects the lay responder legally from negligence, save the ill or injured person life, and encourage the idea of helping others in an emergency crisis.
On the morning of May 17th, 2005, Nola Walker was involved in a two-car collision. Police and Ambulance were dispatched and arrive on scene at the intersection of Kenny and Fernley Street. Ambulance conducted various assessments on Ms. Walker which revealed no major injuries and normal vital signs. Mrs walker denied further medical investigation and denied hospital treatment. Later on, Queensland police conducted a roadside breath test that returned a positive reading, police then escorted Ms. Walker to the cairns police station. Ms. Walker was found to be unconscious, without a pulse and not breathing. An ambulance was called but attempts to revive her failed (Coroner’s Inquest, Walker 2007). The standard of Legal and ethical obligation appeared by paramedics required for this situation are flawed and require further examination to conclude whether commitments of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice were accomplished.
The Lewis Blackman Case: Ethics, Law, and Implications for the Future Medical errors in decision making that result in harm or death are tragic and costly to the families affected. There are also negative impacts to the medical providers and the associated institutions (Wu, 2000). Patient safety is a cornerstone of higher-quality health care and nurses serve as a communication link in all settings which is critical in surveillance and coordination to reduce adverse outcomes (Mitchell, 2008). The Lewis Blackman Case 1 of 1 point accrued
Health Care workers are constantly faced with legal and ethical issues every day during the course of their work. It is important that the health care workers have a clear understanding of these legal and ethical issues that they will face (1). In the case study analysed key legal and ethical issues arise during the initial decision-making of the incident, when the second ambulance crew arrived, throughout the treatment and during the transfer of patient to the hospital. The ethical issues in this case can be described as what the paramedic believes is the right thing to do for the patient and the legal issues control what the law describes that the paramedic should do in this situation (2, 3). It is therefore important that paramedics also
For this book report on The Samaritans Dilemma by Deborah Stone will consist of two chapters I am going to talk about chapters 2,4. I will talk about what Stone was trying to say in the chapters and either if I will agree or disagree with what she has to say or if I can actually be in the middle of the argument and be for it as well as against it. I will as well be providing information from the book The American Welfare State by Brian Glenn to show why I favor a side in the dilemma Stone is talking about. Seven Bad Arguments Against Help In chapter two Stone tries to cover objections that people have against the welfare state. In the first argument she goes on and talks about that by helping people it makes them more dependent on other people
There are defenses against negligence lawsuits for sports medicine professionals. The first of which is assumption of risk, where the athlete voluntarily and knowingly assumes the risk of an activity through an expressed or implied agreement. This can be done by having a form signed during pre-season paperwork. This does not forgive a clinician of reckless conduct, however. Assumption of risk is for the usual risks, and the athlete by singing assumes responsibility for injury that occurs as a result of the inherent dangers of sport. It is crucial that athletes be informed that risk for injury exists and understand the nature of that risk. Another defense is an act of God, which are events that are outside of human control. This includes natural disasters, weather, and other environmental concerns in which no one can be held responsible. If the incident was not foreseeable, this is another defense a clinician could use against a negligence lawsuit. Foreseeability is based upon whether the clinician at fault could have realistically anticipated the consequences that would result because of their conduct. In order for the clinician to be held liable, the harm must foreseeably arise from the negligent act. Good Samaritan laws provide limited security against legal liability should an accident arise while providing care during an emergency, in good faith, without expected compensation, and without misconduct or gross negligence. This usually does not apply to someone providing care during regular employment. It was created for situations in which a volunteer comes to the aid of an injured person during an emergency in order to reduce bystanders ' hesitation to assist because of the fear of a lawsuit. The individual providing care must ...
Everyday thousands of individuals put their lives at risk for no more than a sense of thrill. These daredevils decisions usually result in situations that require rescues that cost society large amounts of tax dollars. People who put themselves in a life-or-death situation should be held accountable for their rescue and should also be responsible for their actions. Being in a life-or-death situation does not excuse anyone from choosing a wrong path while knowing it isn’t the correct decision.
A society that is ruled by liberty contains morals, morals that come with rights that must be respected in order to preserve integrity. In his article “A Right to do Wrong”, Ethics, vol. 92 (1981), pp. 21-39, Jeremy Waldron argues that if people in a society take moral rights seriously they must accept an individuals “right to do wrong” from a moral perspective. Having a choice to do wrong from a moral point of view creates diversity in a society which lead’s to development in the society as a whole. Waldron offers a paradox to explain his position on individuals having a moral right to act in ways that might be seen as wrong from a moral point of view. I will explain and outline Jeremy Waldron’s position on the idea of individuals having the moral right to do wrong, and I will also evaluate Jeremy Waldron’s position and demonstrate if there is really such a moral right using my views that will be enhanced by John Stewart Mill views.
Under the Good Samaritan Law, the person giving aid to the injured is granted immunity if they make an error while rendering emergency medical aid” (US Legal, Inc, 1997-2016). For this law to protect the Good Samaritan two facts are relevant, 1. The aid must be provided at the scene and the person rendering the aid must not have any ulterior motives for compensation.
Ethics and moral judgment will always continue to be a controversial topic due to the different beliefs of those living around the world. One’s surrounding and upbringing is different from almost every human being; making no two people alike. As a health specialist it is our job to uphold the standards of professional conduct and ethical codes. We must respect decisions of others and be held accountable for our own personal mistakes. In the case of The Overcrowded Lifeboat making a vital decision with the lives of the people involved can be a major controversy. The question of whether a situation can be considered moral may never be answered and is left to the interpretation of the own solitary individual.
Fischer, P., Krueger, J., Greitemeyer, T., Kastenmüller, A., Vogrincic, C., Frey, D., Heene, M., Wicher, M., & Kainbacher, M. (2011). The bystander-effect: A meta-analytic review on bystander intervention in dangerous and non-dangerous emergencies. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 517-537.
“Once an event is noticed, an onlooker must decide if it is truly an emergency” (Darley and Latanè 769). In this example, Lantanè and Rodin set up an experiment at Columbia University. During this experiment, subjects were given a questionnaire to fill out. During the questionnaire, a tape recording was played with noises sounding like someone had fallen and was in need of assistance. Out of the subjects involved, 70 percent offered to help; while those waiting in pairs only 20 percent offered to help. Astonishingly, 32 subjects remained unresponsive. The subjects go on to say if it was a real emergency they would have helped.
There is a strict distinction between acts and omissions in tort of negligence. “A person is often not bound to take positive action unless they have agreed to do so, and have been paid for doing so.” (Cane.2009; 73) The rule is a settled one and allows some exceptions only in extreme circumstances. The core idea can be summarized in “why pick on me” argument. This attitude was spectacularly demonstrated in a notoriously known psychological experiment “The Bystander effect” (Latané & Darley. 1968; 377-383). Through practical scenarios, psychologists have found that bystanders are more reluctant to intervene in emergency situations as the size of the group increases. Such acts of omission are hardly justifiable in moral sense, but find some legal support. “A man is entitled to be as negligent as he pleases towards the whole world if he owes no duty to them.” (L Esher Lievre v Gould [1893] 1 Q.B. 497) Definitely, when there is no sufficient proximity between the parties, a legal duty to take care cannot be lawfully exonerated and imposed, as illustrated in Palmer v Tees Health Authority [1999] All ER (D) 722). If it could, individuals would have been in the permanent state of over- responsibility for others, neglecting their own needs. Policy considerations in omission cases are not inspired by the parable of Good Samaritan ideas. Judges do favour individualism as it “permits the avoidance of vulnerability and requires self-sufficiency. “ (Hoffmaster.2006; 36)
The English Law on Vicarious Liability An employer is responsible for damage caused by the torts of his employees acting in the course of employment. This is known as ‘vicarious liability’[1]. Essentially, vicarious liability is where the employer is generally substituted in terms of liability for the employee, the employee also has liability but the resources of the employer such as insurance makes them more financially attractive to the claimant. The mechanism of vicarious liability is arguably the best compromise between the needs of tort victims and the freedom of businesses as the employer usually has insurance to cover the tort of the employee, making it more financially viable to the employer than directly compensating the claimant.
Currently, the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act states that protection from liability will be granted to persons who donate food to “a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals” (Government Publishing Office, “Public Law 104-210”). In 2008, Congress passed Public Law 110-247, which is known as the Federal Food Donation Act of 2008. This act built off of the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act by encouraging executive federal agencies to donate food. Again, the language states that it will protect donations of food to, “non-profit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States” (Government Publishing Office, “Public Law 110-247”). Another mandate that Congress needs to make to the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act is to expand protection to
In "a view from the Bridge", justice and law are not presented as being synonymous.