Patient, who suffered a heart attack one week after being treated for chest pain and shortness of breath by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) for governmental entity who told him everything looked normal, brought negligence action against governmental entity, alleging that failure of EMTs to properly diagnose his condition caused him injuries.
The Third District Court granted governmental entity’s motion to dismiss, and patient appealed.
The Supreme Court held that:
- As matter of first impression, having immunized entities engaged in activities involving emergencies of certain type, what legislature had in mind when it enacted the “providing emergency medical assistance” exception to waiver of immunity under Utah Governmental Immunity Act (UGIA) is government’s ability to respond to those types of emergencies, and
- As matter of first impression, the “providing emergency medical assistance” exception to waiver of immunity under UGIA did not apply.