Would you risk a lawsuit in order to save someone's life?

melmelw03

Ok so yesterday, my parents were eating lunch at a restaurant when my mom started choking, she blacked out and fell face first into the concrete floor. She was choking, could not breathe.....and NOT ONE PERSON in the entire place came over and did the Heimlich Maneuver on her. They had called 911 and just watched her and told her the ambulance was coming. She almost died. All my dad could do was scream for help ( he is on oxygen and not in good health). I'm so pissed. Do people really not know what to do in that situation??? Or are they too damn afraid to step up? I've never worked in food service before, but are not even managers trained in this? It's a restaurant, people are eating, and choking is a very real hazard. I learned this technique when I was 16 and learning CPR for the first time. It's not hard and I'm legit flabbergasted that not one person in that place stepped in to perform this on my mom. We are very, very lucky that she didn't die waiting for EMT's to arrive.

I understand people are afraid of being sued, but what about Good Samaritan laws?? Would you risk someone suing you if you knew they needed life saving aid and you were capable of giving it? I know that if I'm ever in that situation, there's no way I could watch someone choke to death just because I was scared of a possible lawsuit.

What would y'all do?

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RunHardBeStrong

That is horrible! I am glad she is ok! My instincts would have kicked in and I would have done something regardless of consequences. From having worked in food service when I was younger, they did not teach us what to do in these situations. IDK if all establishments work that way but the 3 I have been in, did not.

Motorsheen

Of course I would.

In a group, people will freeze and wait for someone else to step up. It probably wasn't a matter of anyone worrying about litagation.

The key here is to single out an individual for help.

In the book pre-suasion authored by Robert Cialdini, he talked about being injured in a car accident and staggering out of his vehicle. People slowed and some stopped but nobody was helping.

He called out one specific individual for assistance. When called, he responded. When he responded, others followed.

Karb_Kween

Idk the heimlich so I wouldn't be of help. Hopefully D would

Karb_Kween

I saw a thing on doing the heimlich on your self with a chair and I still don't know how to do that

RoxieDawn

This is atrocious.. the last thing on my mind would be lawsuit..

Might thoughts are and it might be my mother instincts kicking in at the moment, but why would even people be thinking about law suit when someone is in dire need of medical attention. Makes no sense to me.

I am truly glad that she is ok and no doubt the EMT's are the hero of the day.

synchkat

MeganAM89 wrote: »

I agree with @Motorsheen. There's this concept that's often associated with the murder of Kitty Genovese in the 60s (although that's partially been proven to have not happened in that situation) called the bystander effect. Basically when you have a group of people, particularly a large group of people like I assume were in that restaurant, each person assumes that another will step in to help, and no one ends up coming forward. I think that's partially what happened but also people often freeze under pressure. I doubt that most of the people were thinking, "if I crack her rib and puncture her lung she/her husband could sue me." I'm sure that most people were scared and just didn't know what to do (despite it being obvious).

I like to think that if I had been there I would've attempted the heimlich but regardless, I'm glad your mom was okay.

I agree with this. And as a person who tends to panic I have no idea what I'd do but I do know when my mom fell in a parking lot breaking her hip or collapsed in a parking lot from a reaction to meds we had everyone walking past stop to help us.

I suspect people just didn't know what to do. Glad she's ok

dc8066

I would try to help someone who is choking or suddenly collapsed, at least untill EMT arrives to the scene, but I was trained professionally and maintain my skills. I am somewhat conflicted on how untrained people should respond because I've seen a thing or two, and the U.S. sue-happy culture doesn't help neither. Sorry about your mom, I wish her quick recovery.

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ninerbuff

I'm a good Samaritan. I've done CPR in a gym and have assisted others when I've seen accidents. Those weekend soccer games for kids have no emergency personal and when I saw two young girls collide heads and hit the ground, players and coaches were running over to "help" and even tried to lift one of the girls up. I yelled "STOP! Don't move them!" and rushed over to assess. You could see a major bruise starting to form on one girls head and the other was fully unconscious. I told someone to call 911, checked the unconscious girl for breathing and pulse (she had both), then checked the other girl who was conscious if she could move her legs and arms. I didn't want the unconscious girl touched until she was assessed to not have any damage to her neck and told the other to stay put.
Both ended up with concussions and when EMT arrived they took over.
Had the unconscious girl been lifted away to the sidelines and had a possible neck injury or fracture, it may have lead to an issue of paralysis.
Actually got a hug and thanks from a lot of the parents there, but IMO I'm was only doing what I've learned. I am so glad that I have this training and have actually got to use it because there's nothing more gratifying that helping to ensure you've helped someone to live.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MrStabbems

I understand your frustrations but people freeze in these situations. Even medically trained staff freeze it's not an easy thing to do.

Someone should step forward but it must be someone competent and knows what they're doing. The staff and mgr should be trained but the general public might not be and I can't blame them