I'm late to this thread, so I haven't caught up on the California ruling. (I usually figure California laws are crazy from the git-go.) But I do want to respond to this quote:
... if you are a doctor or nurse and you pass an accident where someone needs medical aid, if someone saw you pass without stopping, you can be sued. You have an Ethical duty to act. This is weather [sic] on duty or not.
There is a difference between an
ethical duty to act and a
legal duty to act. Any
legal obligation would stem from an established doctor-patient relationship which usually does not exist in rescue situations.
Since many do feel that there is an
ethical or
moral obligation to help others in need, many (if not most) states have Good Samaritan Laws which protect those rendering help against being sued for simply trying to help.
Now, if a person chooses to help, that person may be held accountable for the standard of training that s/he has attained. In other words, an EMT or physician may be held to a higher
standard of care than a layman once that care is initiated. Still, the Good Samaritan statutes may override this.
The most common emergencies are trauma, heart disease, and strokes. I am not a surgeon or trauma specialist. I am not a cardiologist, and I am not a neurologist. Consequently, when I come across most emergencies, I am not the best person to take care of such things. On the other hand, I probably know more than most lay people on the scene.
So what I do is assess the situation. I quickly try to figure out what happened and what needs to be done about it. If someone else is already dealing with it, and if they appear to be taking care of things adequately, I don't butt in. But if I think I can add some expertise, I do so because it is the right thing to do, not because I feel compelled to do so legally.
I do have a question for the lawyers among us: The legal duty to act may vary among different states. So if there are any states which actually place a
legal duty to render aid upon physicians and other professionals, does that duty only extend to those licensed within that state, or does it apply to anyone who has ever been licensed as a physician anywhere and at any time?
(Not intending to hijack the thread, but the comments started me wondering...)