holding, “Duty, in any given situation, is predicated on the relationship existing between the parties at the relevant time, ... and necessarily requires some degree of knowledge.” (citations omitted)
How later courts described this case
- holding, “Duty, in any given situation, is predicated on the relationship existing between the parties at the relevant time, ... and necessarily requires some degree of knowledge.” (citations omitted)
- recognizing Section 323 as an accurate statement of the law of negligence in Pennsylvania
- predicating duty on relationship between parties at relevant time, which necessarily requires some degree of knowledge
- limiting the extent of defendant-paramedics duty under Section 323 to the scope of their undertaking
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
HUTCHINSON, Justice,
concurring.
I join the opinion of Mr. Justice McDermott. There was no evidence from which the jury could have found defendants knew or should have known that an emergency transfer was necessary. In addition, however, I wish to note my belief that the dissenters would misapply Restatement (Second) of Torts Section 323 to the facts of this case by focusing on the reasonableness of the paramedics in refusing to make the transfer. Section 323’s standard of reasonableness should be applied to the City’s policy of refusing to make inter-hospital transfers in an effort to make the most efficient use of its limited emergency resources. In that perspective, the emergency teams may appropriately have been used for the greater good of the greater number. The absence of evidence here to show that policy was either unreasonable or unreasonably followed by the defendants or their supervisor is an additional reason to affirm Superior Court.