Duty to rescue

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Tort law II

Part of the common law series
Negligent torts
Negligence · Negligent hiring
Negligent entrustment · Malpractice
Negligent infliction of emotional distress
Doctrines affecting liability
Duty of care · Standard of care
Proximate cause · Res ipsa loquitur
Calculus of negligence · Eggshell skull
Vicarious liability · Attractive nuisance
Rescue doctrine · Duty to rescue
Comparative responsibility
Duties owed to visitors to property
Trespassers · Licensees · Invitees
Defenses to negligence
Contributory negligence
Last clear chance
Comparative negligence
Assumption of risk · Intervening cause
Strict liability
Ultrahazardous activity
Product liability
Nuisance
Other areas of the common law
Contract law · Property law
Wills and trusts
Criminal law · Evidence

A duty to rescue is a concept in the law of torts that arises in a narrow number of cases, describing a circumstance in which a party can be held liable for failing to come to the rescue of another party in peril. In common law, there is no general duty to come to the rescue of another and a person cannot be prosecuted for doing nothing while another person is in peril.

A duty to rescue arises where a person creates a hazardous situation. If another person then falls into peril because of this hazardous situation, the creator of the hazard has a duty to rescue the individual in peril.

Such a duty also arises where certain relationships exist. For example:

Emergency workers (police, firefighters, EMTs, etc.) have a duty to rescue within the scope of their employment
Parents have a duty to rescue their minor children
Common carriers have a duty to rescue their patrons
Property owners have a duty to rescue invitees from all dangers on the property
Some U.S. states assess such a duty to spouses as well.

Where a duty to rescue arises, the rescuer must generally act with reasonable care, and can be held liable for injuries caused by a reckless rescue attempt. However, many states have limited or removed liability from rescuers in such circumstances, particularly where the rescuer is an emergency worker. Furthermore, the rescuer need not endanger himself in conducting the rescue.

The rescue doctrine, which allows rescuers to recover for their own injuries in such circumstances, does not apply where the rescuers are acting pursuant to duty arising from their own creation of the peril.

The final episodes of Seinfeld depicted Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer being thrown into jail for failing to comply with a fictional "Good Samaritan Law", a type of duty to rescue that does not exist in the US.