Kreisman Law Offices Professional Corporation
The Illinois Supreme Court has reversed an Illinois Appellate Court ruling concluding that Section 3.150(a) of the Emergency Medical Services Systems Act immunizes an ambulance driver in a non-emergency transfer of a patient.
According to the Act, Section 3.150(a), “Any person . . . certified, licensed or authorized pursuant to this act or rules thereunder, who in good faith provides emergency or non emergency medical services . . . in the normal course of conducting their duties, or in an emergency, shall not be civilly liable as a result of their acts or omissions in providing such services unless such acts or omissions . . . constitute willful and wanton misconduct.”
In this case, the plaintiff, Karen Wilkins, sued Rhonda Williams for the injuries she sustained in Oak Lawn, Ill., when she was in an ambulance that crashed into her car. The ambulance was proceeding during a routine, nonemergency transfer of a patient from a hospital to a nursing home. The lawsuit alleged that the driver, Rhonda Williams, and her employer, Superior Air Ground Ambulance Service, were negligent. The defendants moved for summary judgment based on the Emergency Medical Services System Act.