In Canada all provinces have some form of Good Samaritan law which means that you aren’t responsible other than gross negligence. So any off-duty doctor would be very safe to help out unless they were doing something very stupid.
If a doctor has to defend themselves in court they have to pay a lawyer, spend a bunch of time on it and it’s a huge stressor. Much easier to just stay quiet. Almost all doctors would step in and save a live if there was something specific that they needed to be done. But in an airplane, there’s barely any equipment - all of the stewards are going to be trained in first aid and cpr, so are likely better able to manage anything that can be done. The only reason they ask for a doctor is because it’s a trope that people expect (so people would be upset if they didn’t, and so didn’t appear to be doing all they could), and to share the responsibility.
Of course, but because the law is so protective you won’t need to 99.9% of the time. Canada also isn’t a very litigious place and even if it does get raised it will probably get thrown out quickly. To most doctors it is also a huge stressors to watch someone that they can help die. So overall the balance is well worth trying to help out.
In Canada all provinces have some form of Good Samaritan law which means that you aren’t responsible other than gross negligence. So any off-duty doctor would be very safe to help out unless they were doing something very stupid.
But who defines ‘very stupid’. The loved ones of the person who dies because the doctor didn’t recommend an emergency stop?
Of course it can only surely be decided in a court. But in this case it would be something like was not actively trying to cause harm.
If a doctor has to defend themselves in court they have to pay a lawyer, spend a bunch of time on it and it’s a huge stressor. Much easier to just stay quiet. Almost all doctors would step in and save a live if there was something specific that they needed to be done. But in an airplane, there’s barely any equipment - all of the stewards are going to be trained in first aid and cpr, so are likely better able to manage anything that can be done. The only reason they ask for a doctor is because it’s a trope that people expect (so people would be upset if they didn’t, and so didn’t appear to be doing all they could), and to share the responsibility.
Of course, but because the law is so protective you won’t need to 99.9% of the time. Canada also isn’t a very litigious place and even if it does get raised it will probably get thrown out quickly. To most doctors it is also a huge stressors to watch someone that they can help die. So overall the balance is well worth trying to help out.
and for the rest of your life every job and license application require you to explain every lawsuit even if it ends up being settled etc