Espinoza, a firefighter and emergency medical technician was wounded while providing roadside assistance to the Schulenburgs. Although she was off-duty, she felt obliged to offer assistance to the Schulenburgs who were victims at the accident scene. Since she was injured, Espinoza afterwards brought up legal action, which involved the Schulenburgs as respondents as enshrined in the rescue doctrine. At the trial court, the judge held that the fireman’s rule prohibited Espinoza from trying to enforce responsibility on the Schulenburgs and discharged them as defendants. However, emphasis is on enforcing the code that in Arizona, the fireman’s rule as an exemption to the rule of liability revealed in the rescue doctrine is to be narrowly applied (Kessler, 2006).. As such, the fireman’s rule will not block an off-duty firefighter from pursuing recovery for wounds sustained while carrying out a rescue or providing assistance.
With the due consideration on the exemption to the rule of liability, the Arizona Supreme Court distinguished between on-duty and off duty. Off-duty applies where the firefighter renders assistance but is faced with a greater risk of harm than while on-duty. That such an individual makes a voluntary effort to assist the victims without the motivation of being paid. Furthermore, an off-duty firefighter has the option of choosing to assist or not (State case files. (n.d.). However, the on-duty firefighter has an obligation to offer assistance as mandated by the departmental policies or their employment code.
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In conclusion, the department addresses rendering aid off duty as a personal choice. That off-duty is not part of my “duty” as a firefighter, but rather more so an ethical duty. In light of this, the department addresses off duty injuries incurred as a result of rendering aid as worth compensating. It places off-duty firefighters on the same legal balance as a normal civilian volunteer, maintaining that the firefighter is under no service obligation to stopover and provide aid.
References
Bennett, L. T. (2008). Fire service law . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kessler, D. (2006). Arizona Court of Appeals. Appellate Highlights . Arizona Attorney.
State case files. (n.d.). In The Court of Appeals State of Arizona Division One . Retrieved on April 15, 2018. http://statecasefiles.justia.com/documents/arizona/court-of-appeals-division-one-published/CV040438.pdf
