Follow Up: Rejected Illinois law now allows residents to sue emergency services

  • Source: WGEM-TV Quincy
  • Published: 04/27/2016 09:18 PM

A wrongful death lawsuit is setting a new precedent for emergency agencies all over Illinois. A Joliet woman died after it took responders 40 minutes to get her care. Her family sued the dispatcher, medics, and the fire department. Do emergency services owe you a certain level of care? That's the question lawmakers are asking after the Illinois Supreme Court abolished the "public duty doctrine," which protected services like 911 dispatchers, police and fire from getting sued. "Because of the public duty doctrine, they do not owe a duty of care or responsibilty to any single individual," said Quincy attorney Jim Rapp Now that rule is out the window, and Rapp says it's a concern. "Now what will happen if the courts say there is a duty. Now what we have to do is examine how you responded, what did you do?"



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