Emergency medical services liability litigation in the United States: 1987 to 1992

Although emergency medical services (EMS) liability litigation is a concern of many prehospital health care providers, there have been no studies of these legal cases nationwide and no local case studies since 1987.

A retrospective case series was obtained from a computerized database of trial court cases filed against EMS agencies nationwide. All legal cases that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study sample. These cases must have involved either ambulance collisions (AC) or patient care (PC) incidents, and they must have been closed between 1987 and 1992.

There were 76 cases that met the inclusion criteria. Half of these cases involved an AC, and the other cases alleged negligence of a PC encounter. Thirty (78.9%) of the plaintiffs in the AC cases were other motorists, and 35 (92.1%) of the plaintiffs in the PC cases were EMS patients. Almost half of the cases named an individual (usually an emergency medical technician or paramedic) as a codefendant. Thirty-one (40.8%) of the cases were closed without any payment to the plaintiff. There were five cases with plaintiffs' awards or settlements greater than [US] $1 million. Most (71.0%) of the ACs occurred in an intersection or when one vehicle rear-ended another vehicle. The most common negligence allegations in the PC cases were arrival delay, inadequate assessment, inadequate treatment, patient transport delay, and no patient transport.

Risk management for EMS requires specific knowledge of the common sources of EMS liability litigation. This sample of recent legal cases provides the common allegations of negligence. REcommendations to decrease the legal risk of EMS agencies and prehospital providers are suggested.