[philmont] wilderness first aid

Jim Moss writes "Starting to be sorry I started this thread".

As many of you know, I am an attorney licensed in New Jersey (and nowhere else). I do quite a bit of personal injury work on the side of the injured person (the plaintiff, to use a legal term).

I was a bit surprised at my last Red Cross First Aid and CPR class with what I thought was a bit of a heavy-handed presentation of the danger to first aiders who might drop through the (as there presented) "cracks" in Good Samaritan statutes. I held my tongue for the most part as I was there to brush up on CPR, not give a dissertation.

Looking at it from two perspectives, an attorney approached by someone who has suffered a loss who wants to sue his first aider, and as a potential first aider myself, I have some thoughts. First, if someone comes in who has a shaky case (or none at all), I tell him so. Any such case involves an investment of my time and money. I don't take cases that are weak on the facts and the law, on the hope that we'll "get something". Hopefully other attorneys feel the same way. Those I maintain acquaintances with certainly do.

The general rule, all protective statutes aside, is "reasonable care under the circumstances". Circumstances where an injury threatens life, or lifelong injury, where the alternative is doing nothing, and doing nothing could end life.

As a first aider, I tend to put the legalities aside. First, keep your homeowner's paid up. That's the insurance that will not only indemnify for any loss (up to the policy limits) that may be occasioned by your negligence (if proven, under the applicable "Good Samaritan" statute or general concepts of fault), but will also hire an attorney free of charge and put on a defense, also free of charge, all for the payment of the annual premium.

That said, there's no better guidelines than the Scout Oath, Motto and Slogan. "Be Prepared", "do my best", "help other people at all times" and don't forget "Do a good turn daily".

So, get your training, brush up on it when appropriate, jump in when you must, and turn things over to those more qualified when you can.

And if you have to worry about something, at least don't worry about being sued. That's really out of your hands. Concentrate on the job at hand. That's why you took the training in the first place.

Bill Sheehan, ASM
Troop 55, Pitman, NJ
Philmont '70, '72, AA '01,'03,'05,'07 and '08

P.S. Also, it is good advice not to feel you have to talk about what you did or give an interview. When the police, ambulance corps or EMT's show up, fill them in, then go back to being a regular citizen. No need to be the lead story on Eyewitness News. What Neil Young called "fighting for freedom of silence" in his movie "Greendale" (Grandpa's Interview). In the highly unlikely event that someone files suit against one who was just trying to help him out, this can be good advice indeed.

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Received on Fri Mar 7 14:21:51 2008