Based on the case study by Bennett (2008), article VI of the Ohio Rev. Code 5502.40 Interstate Emergency Management Assistance Compact on liability of fire fighters provides that officers or employees of a party state rendering aid in cases of fire in other states are to be considered agents of the requesting state for the purposes of immunity and tortious liability (p. 38). However, acts of recklessness, willful misconduct or gross negligence are not covered for the purposes of compensation and liability. Thus, it follows that any person who is acting as a ‘freelancer’ paramedic has no connection to and authority whatsoever of acting on behalf of either state of Ohio or Louisiana.
Therefore, in this case, I will be incurring personal risk of being successfully sued by any victim of the fire if I negligently offer the medical assistance as an Ohio paramedic or fail to follow the necessary paramedic’s procedure of my department, leading to the exacerbation of the fire victim’s situation, health or death. This is because, under this Code on interstate paramedic assistance in case of fire emergencies, immunity for civil liability from tort is only available to authorized officers of state fire department who act in good faith. Though I will be acting in good faith, I am not authorized by my department to participate in the rescue mission; hence I am on my own in case of a suit. Though it has been held in L.S. Ayres & Co. v. Hicks, 40 N.E.2d 334 (Ind. 1942) that there is no general legal duty to take action to assist another person, it has equally been held in Briere v. Lathrop Co., 22 Ohio St.2d 166, 258 N.E.2d 597 (Ohio 1970) that where a rescuer makes a voluntary undertaking to assist a victim who then relies on this to their detriment, the person is liable due to existence of duty of care.
In the second case where the officer on the engine allows me to participate, my Ohio municipality my also face potential liability based on the test in Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company v Darden and Steffy cases in which volunteer paramedics are deemed employees of the fire company or department (Varone, 2014, p. 88).
References
Bennett, L. T. (2008). Homeland security: Case study 3-3 Mutual Aid (Indiana, 2005). In L. T. Bennett, Fire service law (pp. 37-38). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Varone, J. C. (2014). Application of OSHA to volunteer and partitime personnel. In J. C. Varone, Legal considerations for fire & emergency services (pp. 85-90). Tulsa, Oklahoma: PennWell Corporation.
