Legal perspective on ambulance crashes

ARTICLES OF LAW


When an ambulance is involved in an accident, can the injured passengers claim for
liability?
One visualises an ambulance as a rescue vehicle that sends a sick person or someone who is
involved in an accident, to the hospital to be attended to or treated expeditiously.
However, there have been several instances when an ambulance that was transporting a
person to hospital, was involved in an accident, further injuring the said person and others
accompanying him.
A recent report narrates how an ambulance which was sending a 47-year-old man who had
suffered a heart attack to hospital, was involved in a crash. The patient was injured and six
other persons who were in the ambulance, were hurt, too.
A reader asks whether the ambulance can be sued even though it has merely come to help the
patient and assist in sending him to the hospital.
The fact that the ambulance was sending someone to the hospital and that there was a crash
which resulted in injuries to the said person and others, are two separate matters. The episode
has to be treated as an ordinary accident when it comes to making a claim by those who were
injured.
Any claim for damages for injuries suffered and losses arising out of an accident would have
to be based on negligence. If it was the negligence of the ambulance driver, then there would
be a basis for a claim.
Our law is structured on the basis of fault liability. A right to make a claim only arises if there
is any fault on the part of the person who drove the vehicle that caused the accident. So a
successful claim against the ambulance requires the driver to be at fault.
Then there are situations in which the ambulance may only be partly to blame. The other party
may also have contributed to the accident. In such cases, it is said that there is contributory
negligence.
But how would the injured person know who is to blame? After all, they were in the
ambulance and would likely not know how the collision came about. However, one thing is
certain. The passengers in the ambulance could not have contributed to the collision. It would,
in such case, be advisable to sue both the ambulance as well as other vehicle or vehicles.
Who to sue?
As the ambulance is a mere vehicle, whom should the injured party sue? Of course, the driver
of the ambulance is the one who would be the person who was negligent unless it was
someone else who was at fault.
However, in addition to the driver, the employer who would likely be the owner of the
vehicle, would also be liable. This is because in negligence, the law also places responsibility
on the employer. This is termed vicarious liability.
Those who employ drivers will know that should there be an accident, they would also be
liable to pay damages even though they were not in the vehicle.
The employer may have stated expressly in the contract of employment that for all accidents
and damage caused or arising in the course of his work, the driver will be personally liable.
This arrangement would only be effective between an employer and the employee. It cannot
be relied upon in a claim by a third party. The third party can proceed against the owner as
well. It would then be for the owner to institute action against the driver to be indemnified.
The next question that arises is: who is the owner? This is important because though the
driver is most of the time known and can be sued, he may not have the ability to meet any
judgment obtained. So it is necessary to bring in the owner.
Otherwise the ambulance may belong to a private hospital which is in all probability
incorporated as a company. In consequence, the hospital that owns the ambulance will be the
party to be sued. This will be on the basis of vicarious liability.
In other cases, an individual or company may be involved in the business of providing
ambulance services. The ambulance service may have been contacted by the party requiring
the service or arranged by a private hospital that received the call. However, the party that
will be liable will be the owner of the ambulance service, whether an individual or a corporate
body.
Other than the Government, it is often the case that the vehicle is insured. It is therefore the
insurance company that will pay whatever is awarded. However, be that as it may, unless the
matter is earlier settled, the action will be in the name of the owner and likely the driver.
Whilst on the subject of insurance claims, it should be noted that the insured party should
promptly notify the insurance company about the accident within the specified period. If this
is not done, the insurance company may well opt to repudiate liability. This can mean that the
insurer may not pay at all or after paying, recover the amount from the insured.



Summary

To summarise this article, I will start by saying that accidents happen all the time. But the
irony is that when we need the help of qualified personal, it can sometimes cause the death .
Taking the following case as example, when a man aged 47 years suffering a heart attack,
interfering with the help of an ambulance.
We can say that the ambulance was guilty worsening the situatuion of the patient or the other
victims who were in the car? There are several options due to the cause of the accident, the
driver of whose fault it happened, etc..The question is: can the ambulance be sued? or who
can give comes to damage caused or victims? In most ambulance driver accused and had to
distribute attention because knowing that there is a person who needs medical care. To resolve
this case, they need to know if the ambulance belonged to a private hospital or a gouverment,
whether or not damage insurance. They need to find a driver whose fault or if both drivers
were guilty. If it was totally the fault of another party which resulted in the collision, any
claim against the ambulance would not be successful. In such a case, it is the other party or
vehicle that would have to bear liability.
Drivers can not be entirely to blame for accident and there and the ambulance driver
employer. To be ambulance driver must have some special qualities to drive.


Vocabulary
Claim= cerere , drept, cerinta
Liable=raspunzator
Awarded=acordate
Vicariuos= facut pentru altcineva

Name:Cazan Adelina Valentina