Your Duty of Care

Duty of Care.
As a first aider, you have a duty of care.

A duty of care is a legal obligation set on an individual requiring that they conform to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others.


It can be summarised in three simple rules ... 

Rule 1:  Only treat if you are willing and able to do so.

Rule 2:  Only treat in the manner in which you have been trained.

Rule 3:  Act in the best interest of the casualty.

However these three rules, as useful as they are, do oversimplify things, and it is important that you are fully aware of the issues relating to your duty of care, particularly around the following ... 

  • Understanding the implications of refusing to treat a casualty. (See panel titled "Man jailed for not assisting").
  • Consent
  • Capacity
  • A 'Living Will'
To learn more, please visit the website at ...
and read the information contained there.

Man jailed for not assisting.

Michael Bowditch was jailed for 5 and a half years after admitting manslaughter.  Bowditch was with Morgan when she fell into the sea at the Port of Ramsgate some time between 02:05 BST and 02:40 BST.   Bowditch did nothing to help Ms Morgan and was seen dancing in a nightclub at around 02:50BST.  

Sentencing Bowditch, Judge Jeremy Carey said: "You did not try in any way to help a drowning girl - not by throwing her a life buoy, not by going to her aid as some would have done, not by calling for help, not by contacting the rescue or emergency services.

"In other words, you left her to drown."

https://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/dutyofcare

For more information on your Duty of Care, please refer to pages 3 & 4 of your Learning Pack.
© Copyright Simon Watson