The Appellate Group

Armenta v. Unified Fire

Armenta v. Unified Fire, 2025 UT 26 (Pearce, A.C.J.)

Civil Procedure

The Utah Supreme Court held: 

  • The district court erred in concluding that EMTs providing medical assistance in response to a 911 call qualified as “providing emergency medical assistance” under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act.  
  • Practice tip: Courts do not need to discern a textual ambiguity to employ the noscitur a sociis canon. Instead, as with other canons, it is a tool in the plain-language toolkit that can be used to interpret text without resort to non-textual sources.   

Read the full court opinion