The U.S. District Court for the District of Pennsylvania has ruled that a commercial auto insurer was obligated to indemnify an ambulance company for a settlement it reached with a plaintiff who alleged that he was injured when he fell out of the back of its wheelchair accessible ambulance van because the van driver forgot to secure him. The court also found that the commercial auto insurer and the ambulance company's professional liability carrier had an equal responsibility for the defense costs.
The case
John Stratton, a wheelchair-bound resident of Bala, Pa., alleged that Nancy Ortiz, an employee of Medex Ambulance Inc., loaded him into a wheelchair accessible ambulance van but failed to secure him with a lap belt or securing straps. He alleged that his wheelchair moved towards the open rear of the vehicle, that his wheelchair tipped over out of the rear of the vehicle, and that he was injured.
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