Laura Boller, as the widow of Thomas Anthony Boller and as the administrator of his estate, brought this wrongful death action against Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc. the “Arts Center”. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Arts Center, and Boller appeals. Finding no error, we affirm. We review the grant or denial of summary judgment de novo,1 applying the following standard: To prevail at summary judgment under OCGA § 9-11-56, the moving party must demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A defendant may do this by showing the court that the documents, affidavits, depositions and other evidence in the record reveal that there is no evidence sufficient to create a jury issue on at least one essential element of plaintiff’s case. The burden on the moving party may be discharged by pointing out by reference to the affidavits, depositions and other documents in the record that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case. If the moving party discharges this burden, the nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings, but rather must point to specific evidence giving rise to a triable issue.2 Viewed in the proper light, the record reflects that on the evening of July 24, 2004, Boller and her husband went to the Chastain Park Amphitheater to attend an outdoor concert sponsored by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra the “ASO”, a division of the Arts Center. The Arts Center was the organizer of the concert and had custody and control of the Amphitheater on that evening. The ASO had contracted with an ambulance service to have a stand-by ambulance at its “events,” but unfortunately, no ambulance was on duty at this particular concert. At some time between 8:00 and 8:10 p.m., Boller’s husband dropped her off at the main gate of the Amphitheater and proceeded to park his car. As he walked through the parking area on his way back to the Amphitheater, he collapsed, suffering cardiac arrest. A parking attendant heard him fall and immediately summoned a police officer, Sergeant Patterson, who was directing traffic nearby. Patterson could get no response from him, so she called Lt. Mathis, an on-site officer, who told her that no on-site ambulance was available and that she should call 911, which she proceeded to do. According to Patterson’s statement, she was first made aware of Mr. Boller’s collapse at 8:20 p.m.; she called 911 at around 8:35 p.m.; and a Fulton County Emergency Medical Services ambulance arrived at approximately 8:45 p.m. Mr. Boller was transported to Piedmont Hospital and efforts were made to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead approximately nine minutes after he arrived at the hospital.
Laura Boller sued the Arts Center for her husband’s wrongful death. Boller claimed that the Arts Center breached its duty of care to her husband, an invitee, by its failure to have on-site either an ambulance or an officer operating an automatic external defibrillator device “AED” and by its failure to maintain a safety and security plan to govern the actions of employees and security personnel during a medical emergency. She claimed that this failure resulted in a delay in medical treatment for her husband’s condition, and she submitted the testimony of a medical expert that if her husband had received medical care in under six minutes, whether from an on-site ambulance or from an officer operating an AED, he would not have died. Boller further claimed that the Arts Center breached its contractual duty as she and her husband were intended third party beneficiaries of an agreement between Chastain Ventures of which the Arts Center was a member and the City of Atlanta, which required that the Venture provide for professional management of the venue.
