Chapter I

LEGAL ISSUES  

Through written evaluation the applicant will demonstrate knowledge of the legal issues involved in to Search and Rescue, to include:

6A.  The limitations of the Good Samaritan law. (Oregon)

The Official Oregon web site on Emergency Medical Services & Trauma Systems

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/ems/rules.shtml

refers to the laws below as the" Good Samaritan Laws"

30.800 Liability for emergency medical assistance. (1) As used in this section, "emergency medical assistance" means:

       (a) Medical or dental care not provided in a place where emergency medical or dental care is regularly available, including but not limited to a hospital, industrial first-aid station or a physician's or dentist's office, given voluntarily and without the expectation of compensation to an injured person who is in need of immediate medical or dental care and under emergency circumstances that suggest that the giving of assistance is the only alternative to death or serious physical after effects; or

       (b) Medical care provided voluntarily in good faith and without expectation of compensation by a physician licensed by the Board of Medical Examiners for the State of Oregon in the physician's professional capacity as a team physician at a public or private school or college athletic event or as a volunteer physician at other athletic events.

       (2) No person may maintain an action for damages for injury, death or loss that results from acts or omissions of a person while rendering emergency medical assistance unless it is alleged and proved by the complaining party that the person was grossly negligent in rendering the emergency medical assistance.

       (3) The giving of emergency medical assistance by a person does not, of itself, establish the relationship of physician and patient, dentist and patient or nurse and patient between the person giving the assistance and the person receiving the assistance insofar as the relationship carries with it any duty to provide or arrange for further medical care for the injured person after the giving of emergency medical assistance. [1967 c.266 §§1,2; 1973 c.635 §1; 1979 c.576 §1; 1979 c.731 §1; 1983 c.771 §1; 1983 c.779 §1; 1985 c.428 §1; 1989 c.782 §35; 1997 c.242 §1; 1997 c.751 §11]

        30.803 Liability of certified emergency medical technician acting as volunteer. No person shall maintain a cause of action for injury, death or loss against any certified emergency medical technician who acts as a volunteer without expectation of compensation, based on a claim of negligence unless the person shows that the injury, death or loss resulted from willful and wanton misconduct or intentional act or omission of the emergency medical technician. [1987 c.915 §11]  

 Note from Joe Doman: The key to the protection afforded to "Good Samaritans" appears to be that the emergency medical provider must be grossly negligent in the performance of his/her services.  But of course, there are no lawyers working here. 
Below are some examples of what the legal community has to say  about this issue.

From: http://www.legal-definitions.com
    negligence definition – negligence is the committing an act which a person exercising ordinary care would not do under similar circumstances definition - or the failure to do what a person exercising ordinary care would do under similar circumstances.

Judge Learned Hand opined that "Gross negligence is substantially and appreciably higher in magnitude and more culpable than ordinary negligence. Gross negligence is equivalent to the failure to exercise even a slight degree of care. It is materially more want of care than constitutes simple inadvertence. It is an act or omission respecting legal duty of an aggravated character as distinguished from a mere failure to exercise ordinary care. It is a very great negligence, or the absence of even slight diligence, or the want of even scant care. It amounts to indifference to present legal duty, and to utter forgetfulness of legal obligations so far as other persons may be affected. . . . Gross negligence is manifestly a smaller amount of watchfulness and circumspection than the circumstances require of a prudent man. But it falls short of being such reckless disregard of probable consequences as is equivalent to a willful and intentional wrong. Ordinary and gross negligence differ in degree of inattention, while both differ in kind from willful and intentional conduct which is or ought to be known to have a tendency to injure."

If anyone has a more authoritative definition of Gross Negligence, please send it to us at OSSA@cooscountysheriff.com