A duty to rescue is a concept in the law of torts that arises in a narrow number of cases, describing a circumstance in which a party can be held liable for failing to come to the rescue of another party in peril. Law (a loanword from Old Norse lag), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... A party is a person or group of persons that compose a single entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the law. ...

A duty to rescue arises where a person creates a hazardous situation. If another person then falls into peril because of this hazardous situation, the creator of the hazard has a duty to rescue the individual in peril.

Such a duty also arises where certain relationships exist. For example:

• Emergency workers (police, firefighters, EMTs, etc.) have a duty to rescue within the scope of their employment
• Parents have a duty to rescue their minor children
• Common carriers have a duty to rescue their patrons
• Property owners have a duty to rescue invitees from all dangers on the property
• Some U.S. State's asses such a duty to spouses as well.

Where a duty to rescue arises, the rescuer must generally act with reasonable care, and can be held liable for injuries caused by a reckless rescue attempt. However, many states have limited or removed liability from rescuers in such circumstances, particularly where the rescuer is an emergency worker. Furthermore, the rescuer need not endanger himself in conducting the rescue. Firefighter in full turn out gear with an axe A firefighter is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people, and in some areas provide emergency medical services. ... An emergency medical technician (EMT) is an emergency responder trained to provide emergency medical services (EMS) to the critically ill and injured. ... A common carrier is an organization that transports a product or service using its facilities, or those of other carriers. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ...

The rescue doctrine, which allows rescuers to recover for their own injuries in such circumstances, does not apply where the rescuers are acting pursuant to duty arising from their own creation of the peril.