Breaking A Window To Administer First Aid.

[JaneGray]

An elderly man almost looked dead in the car and myself and a friend called an ambulance and the 999 operator told us to break the window in case CPR was needed.
The man was breathing but it was concluded he was in a deep sleep.
The insurance company has now sent me the bill for the window.
Am I obliged to pay it..

Jane

[Zacs-Master]

I think you need to read the previous posts methyl.

[Peter Pedant]

FF

got it !

odd situation - by FF saying - there is no pattern
one can conclude from the statement ....what the pattern is...

[Peter Pedant]

she's not liable methyl.... for a variety of reasons
of which it didnt occur is the main one

I was completely taken in myself

[Zacs-Master]

Oh right, well, the Ed has seen fit to suspend the writer, so I wouldn't waste too much time.

[Peter Pedant]

coursework - obviously not liable in criminal no mens rea
obviously not liable in civil - not negligent

I dont thing it can be coursework

[sandyRoe]

If the broken glass had injured the man in the car who could he lodge a claim against? And if he thought he was being robbed as the window was smashed and lashed out, hurting one of his would-be good Samaritans, who would be liable?

[Peter Pedant]

me

there is nothing wrong with offering help.....

there is a special needs question on the go
you may wish to get involved with......
[there really IS nothing on tv to detain you]
[ and good life isnt up and running misquoting the NT in Greek....]

[Peter Pedant]

aaargh - help ! we need bn to say as usual I dont understand...

Sandy - a) the claim has to be against the breaker/smasher
[you can't claim against the iggy-biggy-boo or a passing dog]

b) the driver would not be liable as he would be able to successfully claim self-defence

c) the smasher would not be liable as there is no criminal intent
and would not be able to claim himself as he did it himself
and it was intentional and foreseeable

d) but if the smasher suffered psych injury as a result of seeing the 'dead' person and trying to help, he WOULD be able to recover damages under doo-dah v BRB ( something, a jurist called Tony Weir said was a meritorious plaintiff)

I hope I am not putting 'next question' ideas in Jand Grey's mind

[Peter Pedant]

damn
Chadwick v BRB.....
here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadwick_v_British_Railways_Board

[sandyRoe]

So, a simple act of human kindness can be fraught with all sorts of litigious possibilities. Would it be better to ignore the car and its occupant and walk away?

[Peter Pedant]

.

yes.... I see.... no one locks themselves in a car....

[EDDIE51]

No one locks themselves in a car? They do if they are driving through some areas of south London. My car has a button on the dashboard to lock all the doors so they can not be opened from the outside.

[sandyRoe]

This chap would have been well advised to have locked his car

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24419503

[Peter Pedant]

erm.... yeah.... kind of...... Me

The medics involved having been trashed, said a few years later, we had no duty to help we should have walked on by......so yeah in a way, I was trying to quote the good samaritan parable.... now read on

THE St John Ambulance Brigade is being sued for nearly £500,000 by the fiancé and parents of a marathon runner who suffered a heart attack and died at the end of a race. Anna Loyley, 26, collapsed at the feet of medics who have been accused of failing to treat her for seven minutes and not using available equipment properly. Her fiancé Nick Raggett, 34, from north London, said that he is suing with the backing of Anna's parents who were devastated at the failure of the medics.
He said: "We watched Anna die and St John has refused to help us find out about her death," last week, speaking for the first time about the tragedy. "We are very unhappy with her treatment. The rest of the details will have to emerge in court."


oh, Anna was not locked in a car... I agree
having read the later posts.... that may have been her mistake....