Mullin v. Municipal City Of South Bend

639 N.E.2d 278 (1994)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Mullin (P) lived in South Bend with her two children. At 5:27 a.m. a neighbor reported a fire at P's household. When the 911 dispatcher asked if anyone was inside the house, the neighbor responded: 'I think so.' Fire trucks but no ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Once there, one of the fire units requested an ambulance, the first of which arrived at 5:44 a.m. One of P's children, Shawn died; the other, Kathleen was injured. P filed suit against the City of South Bend (D), alleging that D was negligent for the dispatcher's failure to send an ambulance to the scene immediately. Over a year prior to P’s fire, dispatchers were posted by notice that medics were to be dispatched to all fire calls where someone is thought to be in the house. D moved for summary judgment arguing that it was immune from liability under the Tort Claims Act and that it breached no private duty owed to Ps. The trial court granted the motion finding as a matter of law that the City owed no private duty to Ps. P appealed; the Court of Appeals affirmed the entry of summary judgment on the same grounds. This appeal resulted.