1. A legal principle exempting a person from the ordinary standard of reasonable care if that person acted instinctively to meet a sudden and urgent need for aid. — Also termed imminent-peril doctrine; sudden-emergency doctrine; sudden-peril doctrine. [Cases: Negligence 291. C.J.S. Negligence §§ 69–73.]
2. A legal principle by which consent to medical treatment in a dire situation is inferred when neither the patient nor a responsible party can consent but a reasonable person would do so. — Also termed (in sense 2) emergency-treatment doctrine. Cf. GOOD SAMARITAN DOCTRINE ; RESCUE DOCTRINE. [Cases: Health 909.]
3. The principle that a police officer may conduct a search without a warrant if the officer has probable cause and reasonably believes that immediate action is needed to protect life or property. — Also termed emergency exception. See exigent circumstances under CIRCUMSTANCE.
