OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) - The City of Seattle can be held liable after first responders three blocks from a 911 caller's apartment zoomed past to the wrong address, causing a delay in treating a man suffering cardiac arrest.
A divided Washington Supreme Court ruled Jan. 12 the public duty doctrine does not shield Seattle from potential liability in a lawsuit brought by Delaura Norg and husband Fred. Though they lived blocks away from a Seattle Fire Department station, it took emergency responders more than 15 minutes to arrive in February 2017.
Delaura gave the correct address several times but responders mistakenly headed to a nursing home to which they are frequently called. The state Supreme Court's decision affirms a trial court ruling that granted summary judgment to the Norgs on the question of common law duty.
The case will continue to determine whether that duty was breached, if Seattle's actions caused injury to Fred Norg and a possible amount of damages. The Norgs' argument was supported by the state's trial lawyer association, the Washington State Association for Justice Foundation.
Seattle argued the Norgs' lawsuit alleged a breach of duty to the public as a whole (shielding it from liability under governmental immunity) and not an individual. The court wrote "it is clear" that Seattle's argument fails.
"The Norgs do not claim that the City failed to operate a 911 telephone service," the ruling says. "They do not claim that the City failed to accomplish its implementation of a 911 service as soon as practicable. They do not claim that the City failed to answer their 911 call or violate any" promise under the E911 statute.
"Instead, the Norgs claim that the City answered their 911 call and undertook to render emergency assistance, but that the City acted negligently in doing so by going to the wrong address."
Delaura called 911 when she awoke to find Fred making loud sounds, with eyes "wide open and glassy." He did not respond to her attempts to wake him.
Delaura's call came at 4:42 a.m. She gave her address to the dispatcher, who relayed the same address to units from nearby SFD stations.
Units left at 4:44 and 4:46, and the dispatcher told Delaura they were on the way. Delaura confirmed her address twice during the wait and began CPR.
At 4:49, all units said they were on the scene, but no one had arrived at the Norgs' apartment building. They had all assumed the call came from a nursing home in the area.
It was roughly 16 minutes after Delaura's call that they finally reached her and Fred, who was taken to a hospital and allegedly suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen that affects his vision, balance and ability to walk.
The lawsuit filed in October 2018 says these injuries were caused by the delay in treatment.
Justice Barbara Madsen issued a dissent against the five-judge majority, saying 911 response falls under the public duty because it is essential for the health, safety and welfare of the public.
"(T)he majority appears to disapprove of the doctrine and, in its haste to pull teeth from the public duty doctrine, ascribes to the philosophy of 'move fast and break things,'" she wrote.
Madsen says Seattle owes a duty to all citizens - not just the Norgs - to respond to 911 calls. Three other justices joined her dissent.