Ch 8. Negligence

Question 1

Most incident related civil suits against fire departments,, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel involve accusations of ____. (200)

Answer 1

negligence

Question 2

3 elements that must be present for an action for negligence to exist. (200)

Answer 2

1) An act or omission
2) Damages to the plaintiff
3) Breach of the standard of care

Question 3

Any ____, such as driving a piece of apparatus, creates a duty to protect others from foreseeable, unreasonable risks. (201)

Answer 3

affirmative action

Question 4

An omission, or failure to act, can be grounds for negligence only when ____. (201)

Answer 4

one is under a legal duty to act

Question 5

A duty to act is created by ____. (202)

Answer 5

the relationship between the parties

Question 6

The act or omission that constitutes negligence must result in ____. (203)

Answer 6

actual damages to the victim

Question 7

The negligent act must be the ____ of the damages or harm. (203)

Answer 7

proximate cause

Question 8

_____ is a legal term referring to the fact that the act in question is the legal cause of the harm that results. (203)

Answer 8

Proximate cause

Question 9

When engaging in any activity, a person is expected to exercise the care that the reasonably prudent person would exercise under the circumstances. This is referred to as ___.

Answer 9

the ordinary standard of care (or the reasonable prudent persons standard of care)

Question 10

The standard of care is a measure of ____. (203)

Answer 10

what the community expects and demands from everyone

Question 11

In a trial for negligence, in order for the jury to make the decision of what the reasonably prudent person would have done under the circumstances, the jury takes into account ____. (204)

Answer 11

the collective life experiences of each juror

Question 12

Professional acts of negligence are often referred to as ____. (204)

Answer 12

malpractice

Question 13

Those with professional skills and training are held to the standard of the ____. (204)

Answer 13

reasonably prudent professional

Question 14

4 categories of evidence introduced to a negligence case involving professional standard of care. (207)

Answer 14

1) Expert witnesses
2) Learned treatises (books, journals, articles, and other writings that explain what the standard of care should be)
3) Laws and regulations
4) Industry-wide standards

Question 15

Deviation from ____ makes it relatively easy for an injured patient to establish negligence on the part of emergency medical technicians and paramedics. (209)

Answer 15

prehospital protocols

Question 16

Many jurisdictions now consider issues of patient treatment, consent, informed consent, and implied consent to be matters better suited to consideration as negligence. Courts will look at the standard of care of the reasonable prudent medical provider, and determine if the provider was negligent in __2__. (210)

Answer 16

1) not providing enough information to the patient
or
2) not obtaining valid consent

Question 17

____ is the intentional stopping of medical care without legal excuse or justification. (210)

Answer 17

Abandonment

Question 18

Most authorities now seem to conclude that abandonment is based on ___. (211)

Answer 18

negligence

Question 19

___ will be an important consideration in establishing the appropriate standard of care. (211)

Answer 19

State and local pre-hospital protocols

Question 20

____ is an aggravated form of negligence that involves an extreme departure from the ordinary standard of care. (211)

Answer 20

Gross negligence

Question 21

An aggravated form of gross negligence, referred to as willful, wanton, and reckless behavior. (211)

Answer 21

Recklessness

Question 22

It is ___ that separates recklessness from gross negligence. (211)

Answer 22

the conscious knowledge that harm was likely to result

Question 23

under ____, the jury is responsible to apportioning fault among the various responsible parties. (214)

Answer 23

comparative negligence

Question 24

___ is a principle that developed under contributory negligence to ensure that someone who is injured while coming to the rescue of another can recover damages from the person who negligently caused the situation. (214)

Answer 24

The rescue doctrine

Question 25

The rescue doctrine is based on the recognition that ___. (214)

Answer 25

danger invites rescue

Question 26

___ is a tort defense that arises when two parties have both been negligent, but the second party has the opportunity to avoid harm and fails to do so. (218)

Answer 26

The last clear chance doctrine

Question 27

The ___ rule prohibits an injured firefighter from suing the person who negligently causes a fire or emergency, or negligently maintains the property on which a fire or emergency occurs. (219)

Answer 27

fireman’s

Question 28

Throughout most of the study of law, we have seen a principle that equates liability with ___. (223)

Answer 28

fault

Question 29

Under ___, if harm results, the actor will be responsible for any and all harm without regard to fault. Whether the actor exercised due care, or even exceeded due care, he will be liable for any damages that occur. (223)

Answer 29

strict liability

Question 30

A legal doctrine that holds an employer liable for the torts of its employees, provided the torts are committed within the scope of the workers’ employment. This is a form of strict liability. (225)

Answer 30

Respondeat superior (or vicarious liability)

Question 31

When negligence of 2 or more persons combines to cause damage to a victim, each of the negligent parties can be held liable for ___. (227)

Answer 31

the entire amount of damages

Question 32

The legal term for someone who commits a tort is ___. (228)

Answer 32

tortfeasor

Question 33

The term for 2 or more individuals who commit a tort is ___. (228)

Answer 33

joint tortfeasors

Question 34

The solution to the SOP/SOG dilemma lies not in renaming, but in ___. (228)

Answer 34

clearly defining the department’s expectations

Question 35

____ is the biggest area of civil liability for fire departments, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel from an operational perspective. (229)

Answer 35

Negligence

Question 36

At the heart of negligence is a consideration of what the ___ would have done under the circumstances. (229)

Answer 36

reasonably prudent person