Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, authored an article for Chicago Lawyer Magazine titled, “Be Prepared, Be Ready,” exploring a recent Illinois Supreme Court decision that held fitness facilities are required to take life-saving action when a patron is in apparent danger.
In Dawkins v. Fitness International, LLC, 2022 IL 127561 (Il. Sup. Ct., decided May 22, 2022), a 69-year-old woman was exercising at an Oswego fitness facility when she stopped breathing and collapsed. Although an automated external defibrillator (AED) and a trained personnel member were available, nothing was done to save her for eight minutes. She suffered irreparable brain damage.
The state’s highest court ruled that two state statutes control, and when read together, they mean that the facility had a duty to act meaning the “non-use of the AED would amount to willful and wanton misconduct.”
To read the entire column that appeared in the latest edition of the Chicago Lawyer, click here.