Liability of 911 centers.

• Author: Brewer, Mark P.
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

Mr. Drake's article, "The Rescue of an August Body of Law: Florida's Public Duty Doctrine" (May), is an excellent presentation on the "general duty" protections afforded government-run 911 centers by Pollock. This is not a Florida-only concept as Muthukumarana v. Montgomery Co., 805 A.2d 372 (Md. Ct. of Appeals 2002), reaches the same conclusion after a much longer route and contains almost a state-by-state analysis.

The remaining question is how to protect 911 centers from liability when the dispatchers enter into a "special relationship" with the caller. Dispatchers do not become so seeking fame and fortune, for there is neither. Rather, most truly want to help people--it is their nature. Some communications centers have a rule against giving "pre-arrival instructions" (what to do until the ambulance, police, or fire truck arrives), but human nature will overcome those rules. When the mother cries that her baby stopped breathing and sobs, "What do I do? Don't let my baby die!" the dispatcher is going to tell her to do something and it might be right or wrong.

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