Fullerton Beck Secures Summary Judgment and Appellate Affirmance for Ambulance Company

The Fullerton Beck LLP litigation team – Jaymie L. Einhorn, who drafted the summary judgment motion; Edward J. Guardaro, Jr.., who authored the appellate brief; and Brandon Berkowski, who argued the appeal before the Appellate Division, First Department  – obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, on behalf of an ambulance company arising from the inter‑facility transfer of a psychiatric patient for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

During transport, the plaintiff unstrapped himself, assaulted the EMT in the rear of the ambulance, exited the vehicle, and fell from a 30‑foot ledge, allegedly sustaining a traumatic brain injury. The plaintiff alleged negligence based on the ambulance company’s failure to independently evaluate his psychiatric condition, restrain him, and prevent his elopement.

The court accepted Fullerton Beck’s position that EMTs are not trained or authorized to conduct independent psychiatric evaluations and must rely on the assessment of the transferring facility. The firm’s psychiatry expert further opined that, absent a physician’s order, the ambulance company was prohibited from restraining the patient, and that determinations of suicide risk fall within the responsibility of the inpatient psychiatrist.

The court found that the plaintiff’s experts did not dispute that the ambulance company lacked authority to restrain the patient or knowledge of his psychiatric history. It further held that the EMT’s attempt to grab the plaintiff’s shirt did not create a duty to prevent elopement, and rejected the plaintiff’s expert opinions as speculative, conclusory, or beyond their qualifications.