Stretching the Good Samaritan law

Nursing, Jul 2004 by Brooke, Penny Simpson

EMERGENCY INTERVENTION

A friend and I were walking together when we passed a playground and saw a girl fall about 10 feet from the jungle gym. We rushed over, and my friend bent to speak to the girl and examine her. The mother told us the girl was 6 years old.

My friend, an RN who works with patients with neurologic problems, did a quick basic assessment without asking the mother's permission. She had the girl stand up and bend forward. The child seemed frightened and was having some trouble breathing, probably from having the breath knocked out of her. An ambulance soon arrived and the emergency medical technicians (EMTs) took her to the hospital, just in case.

I'm wondering what would happen if the girl developed problems. Could my friend be liable for making her stand up before the EMTs arrived with a backboard? Or would Good Samaritan laws cover her in this case?-O.M., DEL.

Good Samaritan laws protect reasonable behavior of health care providers to protect the life of an injured person and save her from furdier harm until emergency care providers arrive. As a nurse, you're held to the care standard for your level of licensure. Therefore, an advanced practice nurse would be expected to know more about certain injuries than a nurse with a less advanced degree. All licensed nurses are expected to know their scope of practice and act within it unless the victim is in imminent danger of dying.

In this case, your friend should have had the girl lie still and stabilized her neck until the EMTs arrived. Having her stand up could have caused serious damage if she'd had a spinal cord injury. An attorney could argue that your friend's behavior fell into the category of gross negligence, placing her beyond the protection of Good Samaritan laws. Given your friend's background in neurologic nursing, he'd have an especially good case.

The fact that the child's mother didn't consent to your friend's interventions could be a problem too. When the parent of an injured minor is present, ask for the parent's consent before approaching the child.

Although the law lets health care providers act in an emergency to safeguard an injured person, your friend went beyond the boundaries of reasonable intervention.

BY PENNY SIMPSON BROOKE, APRN, MS, JD