No one volunteers to get sued: A review of emergency volunteer liability and protections

Emergency volunteers have become an integral part of our emergency response system. Volunteers are recruited and deployed through a variety of systems and organizations including the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals, Medical Reserve Corps, and American Red Cross. Oftentimes volunteers spontaneously show up at the scene of a disaster. As the response to an emergency unfolds, volunteers may act or fail to act in a way that opens them, as well as the organization that manages them, to liability. In some but not all instances the volunteer and volunteer organization are provided legal protection from liability. A review of federal and state statutes, case law, and reports assessing emergency volunteer systems reveals how liability protection is often tied to the type of services the volunteer provides and the organization deploying the volunteer. This session will first explore the different types of volunteers that may be encountered during an emergency response then examine different legal concepts by which a volunteer can be found liable and the rationale for liability protections. Finally, we will look at the features and elements of the various state and federal laws that grant liability protection to emergency volunteers.