Mueller v. McMillian Warner Insurance Co., 2006 WI 54, 290 Wis. 2d 571

Summary

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin held that the phrase "scene of any emergency" in Wisconsin's Good Samaritan statute may include a location to which an injured person has moved after an accident. However, immunity applies only to initial evaluation and immediate assistance, treatment, and intervention before care can be transferred to professional medical personnel. The court affirmed the court of appeals and remanded for proceedings on the plaintiff's negligence claims concerning the defendants' extended non-emergency care.

Holdings

1. The phrase scene of any emergency in Wis. Stat. § 895.48(1) is broad enough to include the Switlicks' home, where the injured plaintiff arrived after the ATV incident.
2. For a layperson, emergency care means care rendered in a sudden, unexpected happening or situation demanding immediate action, including evaluation, intervention, assistance, and treatment, during the period before care can be transferred to professional medical personnel.
3. The Switlicks were not entitled to Good Samaritan immunity for care provided after the initial evaluation and immediate assistance, treatment, and intervention, when they failed to summon professional medical assistance and continued monitoring Mueller for six to seven hours.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Switlicks' home constituted the scene of an emergency under Wis. Stat. § 895.48(1) even though the ATV incident occurred elsewhere.
2. What constitutes emergency care under Wisconsin's Good Samaritan immunity statute.
3. Whether the Switlicks' six- to seven-hour period of continued monitoring and care was protected emergency care under Wis. Stat. § 895.48(1).

Disposition

affirmed