Criminal or civil laws exist to address the concerns that arise because of the possible liabilities that regularly take place during the situations that deal with the emergency response. Individual employees of the government, healthcare providers, volunteers, nonprofit agencies, and businesses are concerned about likely legal responsibility for their actions in the event of an emergency. Liability takes place when an entity or an individual is found to be legally answerable to their failures to act or their actions. As such, this paper will review some of the civil or criminal laws that emergency services agencies must account for in their daily operations. It will also address the potential consequences of violating such laws as well as the liability for the violation and how it applies to emergency services organizations.
The Law of Tort
The law of tort which is the basis of civil law explains more about transgressions of a person on another person’s legal rights. It has two sub-branches that encompass intentional and unintentional torts. Negligence or unintentional tort may arise due to an accident or carelessness, and its focus is on harm or injury (Varone, 2014). Unintentional torts are the foundation of misconduct suits. On the other hand, negligence is a branch tort or personal damage law. It is defined as the failure of an institution or a person to make use of the degree of care that a prudent or reasonable person would use when in the same situation. In the case of a professional such as a nurse or a doctor being negligent when carrying out her duties, the situation will be termed as malpractice or medical negligence. In the event of allegations of negligence or unintentional torts, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof so as to be rewarded of the damages suffered. The plaintiff has to demonstrate a legal duty that gives reasonable care as well as the failure of the defendant to act. The plaintiff must also prove that injury occurred as a result of the defendant’s failure to act at the appropriate time. Any person or organization is subject to a lawsuit for negligence in the case of omission or any act. The spirit of negligence allegation is that the conduct of a person was below the care that is expected which resulted in harm or injury. As such, a direct liability will apply in the case of a hospital failing to protect its patients if the plaintiff will be in a position to prove that the hospital did not meet its standard of care, though it had constructive or actual knowledge of the casualty that resulted in the injury. Additionally, the plaintiff must prove that there was an informal link between the plaintiff’s injury and the conduct of the hospital.
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The Law of Contract
The law of contract majors on the accord between two or more persons or agencies whereby every party has the responsibility of holding his side of the accord. For instance, parties can agree to the lease of a commercial building (Dearman, n.d). In such a case, the lessee has the right to receive the rent money as compensation while the lessor is entitled to use the building for the stipulated time. A breach of contract occurs if either of the parties violates the contract’s provisions. For example, the lessor can violate the contract by failing to pay the rent while the lessee can violate the contract by failing to open the doors of the building after the agreement. In such a case, the plaintiff can file a civil lawsuit against the defendant for damages. Vicarious liability will apply for the violation of the contract. The liability takes place when an entity or an individual is held legally answerable to his failures to act, or his actions, of the person with whom they possess a legal association.
Property Law
According to the Legal Dictionary (n.d), property law entails both real property and personal property. Real property refers to an asset like land and any structure that it carries and which cannot be easily removed. It also entails things that are under the land’s surface such as minerals and oils. On the other hand, personal property is intangible and tangible. The tangible ones include animals, jewelry, and merchandise while the intangible ones include bonds, stocks, copyrights, and patents. Additionally, property law can be sub-divided into conversion and trespass. Conversion is the situation in which the defendant deprives the plaintiff of his personal property without the consent of the plaintiff. The defendant ends up using the property as his. For instance, a man sees his son’s neighbor planting flowers in his father’s garden and realizes that the boy has four extra flower containers with no space in the garden to plant. The man realizes that he also needs flowers in his garden and takes his neighbor’s leftover flower containers without asking for them from the neighbor. As such, the man commits conversion by depriving his neighbor of the flowers and planting them in his garden. Conversely, trespass can also be sub-divided into two: Trespass to Land and Trespass to chattels. Trespass to chattels is the situation in which the defendant physically and intentionally interferes with the possession rights of the plaintiff as well as the use of the plaintiff’s property. Trespass to land takes place when a defendant makes use of the private property of the plaintiff without the plaintiff’s consent. In the two types of property law, a civil liability will be applicable because of the violation of the plaintiff’s privacy by the defendant. In the case of emergency services agencies, carrying out a medical procedure by a medic on a sick person without first getting the informed consent of the sick person could be construed as a battery or intentional tort. As such, the defendant will take direct liability.
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a type of criminal law that is considered as a criminal offense of a lower level. It includes the offenses like petty thefts, traffic offenses, and minor assaults among others. The penalties for the crimes of the misdemeanor nature are normally a year or less in most of the states in the U.S (Schubert, n.d). Both the organizational entities and persons can be liable for criminal sanctions on the basis of their actions during an event of an emergency response. Prosecution of criminals who are the providers of healthcare, volunteers, and first responders engaged in emergency reaction activities are likely to take place in situations of egregious misconduct on the actor’s part. On the other hand, the prosecutorial judgment decides on whether to inquire about prosecution in any circumstance. If necessary, a grand jury will decide on the necessity to indict. Additionally, pin the case of the availability of the protections concerning statutory liability to the participants of the emergency response, the grand jury does not include wanton or willful acts, coverage for criminal activities, as well as gross negligence. The defendant and the emergency services agencies will bear a direct liability.
Conclusion
To conclude, a misdemeanor, the law of tort, contract law, and property law are some of the criminal and civil laws that emergency services agencies must account for in their daily operations. The paper has also discussed the potential consequences of violating the laws and the liabilities that apply to the emergency services organizations.
References
Legal Dictionary. (n.d). Civil Law. Retrieved from http://legaldictionary.net/civil-law/
Schubert, J. (n.d). What is Criminal Law? - Definition, Purpose, Types & Cases. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-criminal-law-definition-purpose-types-cases.html
Varone, J. C. (2014). Legal considerations for fire & emergency services . (3rd ed.). Boston: PenWell
Dearman, V. (n.d). Risk Management and Legal Issues. New York: LLC. Retrieved from http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763757144/57144_CH15_470_493.Pdf
