Only In America

[Steve Williams]

Los Angeles plans to charge families of electrocuted Good Samaritans

By Eric Pfeiffer


The families of two Good Samaritans who were electrocuted after racing to the scene of a car wreck will still be charged for ambulance fees by the city of Los Angeles.
On August 22, Irma Zamora and Stacey Schreiber died after rushing to the scene of a car wreck. Four others were also injured in the incident, after an estimated 4,800 volts of power flowing from a snapped streetlight fixture made contact with water spewing from a broken fire hydrant at the scene of the car accident.
Earlier it was reported that city officials might find a way to waive the fees, which are estimated to be around $1,000 per person. The four other injured victims will also reportedly be billed for emergency services.
LAist reports that City Councilman Paul Krekorian is holding a press conference on Thursday during which he will announce plans to help raise funds for the victims' families.
"No one who puts themselves in harm's way should have to struggle to pay the bills that accrue as a result of their altruism," Krekorian said in a statement.
City fire officials say they do not have the power to circumvent municipal codes and waive the mandatory paramedic fees, even in cases during which a citizen is accidentally injured or killed.

 

[amirm]

Crazy. I recall in Florida nurses and doctors getting prosecuted if they see an accident and don't stop to help. Similar maritime laws exists to force anyone nearby to stop and help a boater in distress. To hear that you then have to pay if you got help is just crazy when it is the government funded agency that is doing the work (paramedics).

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

You put yourself in harm's way every time you get in an automobile. We, as a society, have decided that healthcare is a privilege. If you're smart enough, industrious enough or, increasingly, lucky enough to have a job with a company that has a good healthcare plan for employees, after your standard deductible, that's who pays for ambulance services. If your employer has no/lousy insurance, or you're out of work, you get the bill. It's really that simple, and it doesn't matter why you needed the service. Now, whether or not everyone who gets a $1000 bill can pay it or not is another question. If not, that thousand dollars, like the billions of unpaid medical bills in the American healthcare system, will come out of your pocket and mine in the form of higher healthcare and insurance costs.

The comforting thing is that it will continue to be hidden billions that the people who oppose any healthcare reform in any form can continue to pretend doesn't exist, as they continue to pretend that the current system works, just because it works for them.

Tim

 

[DaveyF]

You put yourself in harm's way every time you get in an automobile. We, as a society, have decided that healthcare is a privilege. If you're smart enough, industrious enough or, increasingly, lucky enough to have a job with a company that has a good healthcare plan for employees, after your standard deductible, that's who pays for ambulance services. If your employer has no/lousy insurance, or you're out of work, you get the bill. It's really that simple, and it doesn't matter why you needed the service. Now, whether or not everyone who gets a $1000 bill can pay it or not is another question. If not, that thousand dollars, like the billions of unpaid medical bills in the American healthcare system, will come out of your pocket and mine in the form of higher healthcare and insurance costs.

The comforting thing is that it will continue to be hidden billions that the people who oppose any healthcare reform in any form can continue to pretend doesn't exist, as they continue to pretend that the current system works, just because it works for them.

Tim

+1

 

[amirm]

I will happy pay the ambulance bills for anyone who goes to help another person in distress and gets hurt and needs to go to the hospital. The danger if we don't do this is that people won't come to help.

 

[Steve Williams]

I will happy pay the ambulance bills for anyone who goes to help another person in distress and gets hurt and needs to go to the hospital. The danger if we don't do this is that people won't come to help.

These 2 women were killed (electrocuted) trying to be a Good Samaritan

 

[jadis]

Reading the post reminded me of a news item I read, though a few years old, in which a woman sued her friend for pulling her out of a smoking car which ultimately caused her paralysis. It's tough to be a bystander these days, who'd think of being a good samaritan as well?

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6498405&page=1#.UFGz-q4Uc2U

Woman Sued for Rescue Effort in Car Crash


By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Dec. 19, 2008

No good deed goes unpunished, or so goes the saying.

Such was the case with Lisa Torti, who is being sued for pulling a now-paralyzed friend from the wreckage of a Los Angeles car accident in 2004.

The victim's lawyers claim the Good Samaritan bumbled the rescue and caused injury by yanking her friend "like a rag doll" to safety.

But Torti -- now a 30-year-old interior designer from Las Vegas -- said she thought she had seen smoke and feared the car would explode. She claims she was only trying to help her friend, Alexandra Van Horn, and her own life has been adversely affected by the incident.

"I know [Van Horn] has a lot of financial issues and her life has changed," she said. "But it's not my fault. I can't be angry at her, only the path she has chosen to take. I can only pray it helps her."

"I don't have any more fight left," Torti told ABCNews.com, choking back tears. "It's really emotional."

The California Supreme Court ruled this week that Van Horn may sue Torti for allegedly causing her friend's paralysis. The case -- the first of its kind -- challenges the state's liability shield law that protects people who give emergency assistance.

Only Medical Workers Immune

The court ruled 4-3 that only those administering medical care have legal immunity, but not those like Torti, who merely take rescue action. The justices said that the perceived danger to Van Horn in the wrecked car was not "medical."

The court majority said the 1980 Emergency Medical Service Act, which Torti's lawyers cited for protection, was intended only to encourage people to learn first aid and use it in emergencies, not to give Good Samaritans blanket immunity when they act negligently.

Van Horn's lawsuit will go on to trial court to determine if Torti is to blame for Van Horn's paralysis.

But some legal experts say the ruling may discourage people from trying to save lives.

"What they are saying is that if you pull someone out of a pool, if you provide CPR, you do have a defense," said Torti's lawyer, Jody Steinberg.

"It seems to defy logic," he said. "At a certain point anyone who instructs or educates [in emergencies] will advise that you must hesitate. Those split-second decisions will be gone and someone could die."

Emergency Trainers Worry

The Boy Scouts of America, which offers emergency training to youth, filed a "friend of the court" brief in the case.

But Van Horn's lawyers said their argument is "nonsense."

At the time of the accident, Torti and Van Horn, both make-up artists, were acquaintances at work. They had been drinking with a group of friends and left a bar in suburban Chatsworth after a Halloween party, according to court papers.

The car in which Van Horn and another passenger were riding spun out of control and hit a telephone pole. Torti said she was a passenger in another car that was following them. Before emergency crews arrived, she allegedly offered to help Van Horn from the wreckage.

"There could be so many things that could happen and I obviously wanted to get her out of the car," said Torti. "She said she couldn't move. I did the best thing I could to move her from the situation and get her out of danger to a place that was a little safer."

 

[treitz3]

I did the best thing I could to move her from the situation and get her out of danger to a place that was a little safer.

Which, IMO, was the best thing to do. You wouldn't want to perform CPR in the middle of a busy highway, a house on fire or an unstable building. The first thing you do is make sure that all parties are in a safe place. Removing a body from a burning car [even if only perceived] that was thought to explode was the safe thing to do. You can't perform CPR on a dead, burnt body but you can on a paralyzed one. I would like to point out that most likely none of this would have happened had they not been drinking and driving. It sounds to me like Van Horn started the unfortunate Domino effect by getting behind the wheel. Perhaps if she had called a Taxi, she wouldn't be paralyzed right now. Regardless if it was from the accident or from Torti removing her body.

Tom

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I will happy pay the ambulance bills for anyone who goes to help another person in distress and gets hurt and needs to go to the hospital. The danger if we don't do this is that people won't come to help.

I assume you mean "as a society" not personally. So would I. In fact, I would happily pay the ambulance bill, period, as a part of a universal healthcare system. Will it be expensive? You bet. Once people have access to decent healthcare, they tend to use rather than sitting at home, sick, hoping it gets better. The list of things we could do without in America to ensure the health of the people our government is supposed to represent is long, and packed with billions of dollars.

Tim

 

[jadis]

Which, IMO, was the best thing to do. You wouldn't want to perform CPR in the middle of a busy highway, a house on fire or an unstable building. The first thing you do is make sure that all parties are in a safe place. Removing a body from a burning car [even if only perceived] that was thought to explode was the safe thing to do. You can't perform CPR on a dead, burnt body but you can on a paralyzed one. I would like to point out that most likely none of this would have happened had they not been drinking and driving. It sounds to me like Van Horn started the unfortunate Domino effect by getting behind the wheel. Perhaps if she had called a Taxi, she wouldn't be paralyzed right now. Regardless if it was from the accident or from Torti removing her body.

Tom

agreed on all points, tom.

 

[carolkoh]

Only in America...

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/tennis-champ-story-proves-americas-problem-black-womens-bodies?

"Townsend, the number one junior women's player in the world, nearly missed a spot in last week's U.S. Open because U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) told her they weren't going to finance her appearance in anymore tournaments until she got into better shape."

She is the top ranked player in the world and is playing well. Racist much? Women do come in all different color, shape and sizes you know...

 

[jadis]

A Canadian who married my cousin told me while visiting he had to rush back the week after to Toronto to attend to his court case. He showed me a long scar in his arm caused by a driving accident many months ago wherein someone's car bumped his car and aside from car damages, caused a gash in his arm that was stitched up. I asked him why would there be a court case when there is car insurance and accidence insurance and he said that no, it's not about the car and his medical procedure, but about collecting damages from the driver of the car because each morning when he sees his scar, he get emotionally distressed and somehow needed compensation to remove this emotional problem. That was the first time I heard of such a lawsuit and later on, I would hear from another friend in Los Angeles that they too have a similar thing and the solution is to get insurance to pay for such a lawsuit, if it happens to you. Only in the 'Americas'?

The Canadian also told me that if he served wine/alcohol in his house party, and one of his guests rammed into a tree or something, then that friend could sue him for serving him wine.

 

[DaveyF]

Reading the post reminded me of a news item I read, though a few years old, in which a woman sued her friend for pulling her out of a smoking car which ultimately caused her paralysis. It's tough to be a bystander these days, who'd think of being a good samaritan as well?

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=6498405&page=1#.UFGz-q4Uc2U

Woman Sued for Rescue Effort in Car Crash


By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Dec. 19, 2008

No good deed goes unpunished, or so goes the saying.

Such was the case with Lisa Torti, who is being sued for pulling a now-paralyzed friend from the wreckage of a Los Angeles car accident in 2004.

The victim's lawyers claim the Good Samaritan bumbled the rescue and caused injury by yanking her friend "like a rag doll" to safety.

But Torti -- now a 30-year-old interior designer from Las Vegas -- said she thought she had seen smoke and feared the car would explode. She claims she was only trying to help her friend, Alexandra Van Horn, and her own life has been adversely affected by the incident.

"I know [Van Horn] has a lot of financial issues and her life has changed," she said. "But it's not my fault. I can't be angry at her, only the path she has chosen to take. I can only pray it helps her."

"I don't have any more fight left," Torti told ABCNews.com, choking back tears. "It's really emotional."

The California Supreme Court ruled this week that Van Horn may sue Torti for allegedly causing her friend's paralysis. The case -- the first of its kind -- challenges the state's liability shield law that protects people who give emergency assistance.

Only Medical Workers Immune

The court ruled 4-3 that only those administering medical care have legal immunity, but not those like Torti, who merely take rescue action. The justices said that the perceived danger to Van Horn in the wrecked car was not "medical."

The court majority said the 1980 Emergency Medical Service Act, which Torti's lawyers cited for protection, was intended only to encourage people to learn first aid and use it in emergencies, not to give Good Samaritans blanket immunity when they act negligently.

Van Horn's lawsuit will go on to trial court to determine if Torti is to blame for Van Horn's paralysis.

But some legal experts say the ruling may discourage people from trying to save lives.

"What they are saying is that if you pull someone out of a pool, if you provide CPR, you do have a defense," said Torti's lawyer, Jody Steinberg.

"It seems to defy logic," he said. "At a certain point anyone who instructs or educates [in emergencies] will advise that you must hesitate. Those split-second decisions will be gone and someone could die."

Emergency Trainers Worry

The Boy Scouts of America, which offers emergency training to youth, filed a "friend of the court" brief in the case.

But Van Horn's lawyers said their argument is "nonsense."

At the time of the accident, Torti and Van Horn, both make-up artists, were acquaintances at work. They had been drinking with a group of friends and left a bar in suburban Chatsworth after a Halloween party, according to court papers.

The car in which Van Horn and another passenger were riding spun out of control and hit a telephone pole. Torti said she was a passenger in another car that was following them. Before emergency crews arrived, she allegedly offered to help Van Horn from the wreckage.

"There could be so many things that could happen and I obviously wanted to get her out of the car," said Torti. "She said she couldn't move. I did the best thing I could to move her from the situation and get her out of danger to a place that was a little safer."

Well the answer to this one is easy, IMO. Next time Torti leaves the wounded and possibly dying Van Horn in her car to be absolutely sure of her fate, LOL. This accomplishes two things...1) Van Horn cannot contemplate suing Torti and 2) No possible liability can accrue to Torti as she was simply trying to be cognizant of any law now, or in the future