The “Rescue Doctrine”
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The general concept
The rescue doctrine addresses injuries to a person who responds to an emergency created by another’s conduct. The law generally treats rescue as a foreseeable response to danger: a person who creates an imminent peril may be responsible for injuries suffered by a reasonably foreseeable rescuer. The doctrine also recognizes that an emergency leaves less time for calm judgment than an ordinary situation.
How Maryland applies it
Maryland decisions recognize the rescue principle, but it is not a blanket rule that excuses every act taken during an emergency. The rescuer must still act with reasonable care under the circumstances. The doctrine may affect whether the original wrongdoer’s conduct was a proximate cause of the rescuer’s injury and whether the rescuer’s conduct bars recovery under Maryland’s contributory-negligence rule. It does not create a general duty for every bystander to intervene or guarantee recovery whenever someone is hurt while helping. The facts matter: the danger, the urgency, the relationship between the original danger and the rescue, and the reasonableness of the response.
Related Maryland Cases and Authorities
Boddie v. Scott, 124 Md. App. 375 (1999).; Miller v. Michalek, 13 Md. App. 16 (1971).