First responders are medical personnel such as EMTs that show up at the scene when immediate medical assistance is required. Their job is to give the injured person immediate medical attention at the scene and transport him or her to a hospital where they can receive further, more extensive medical attention.
Medical personnel can be held responsible for medical malpractice, but are more heavily protected from malpractice claims than doctors and other medical personnel in hospital situations. This is because in a first response situation, the emphasis is on immediate care due to an emergency situation. First responders often must make split second decisions, which means the expectation to guard against mistakes is necessarily decreased. However, if the first responder displays intentional, reckless, or gross negligence, he or she can be held liable for medical malpractice.
Related to the theme of first responders and medical malpractice is that of volunteers who happen to be at the scene of the incident and offer their assistance. In this case, the volunteer would be under the protection of "Good Samaritan" laws, and would not be subject to medical malpractice.