Air ambulance safety ruled hospital responsibility
July 1, 2009
New Mexico: A case brought by Kim and Bonnie Talbott, whose son Damon K. Talbott, died in an air ambulance helicopter crash has been ruled in their favor upon appeal by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
The Talbotts alleged that the hospital that had contracted with the air ambulance company was at fault for not screening the competency of the air ambulance operators hired by the contractor. The initial trial verdict was in their favor, but was reversed. The case was re-tried, and again the jury ruled in their favor. The hospital appealed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, who again ruled in the Talbott's favor. Finally, the "district court in Roswell, Chaves County, New Mexico heard the motion for entry of judgment on the Supreme Court's mandate on June 24, 2009," which was again in the Talbott's favor.
Mike Slack of the Slack & Davis law firm, and a "nationally prominent aviation crash litigator and commentator on air ambulance safety", said the ruling brings "a meaningful precedent to the significant air ambulance safety problem across the country and will greatly benefit the safety of the patients and personnel onboard. Damon Talbott's name now stands for an important legal precedent in the area of aviation safety." [1]
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