Legal Issues
The legal issues topic contains news and information about legal issues affecting EMS personnel, agencies or departments. Find the latest news from personnel misconduct, to disciplinary and harassment cases, to malpractice lawsuits, as well as advice to prevent legal action with EMS training, documentation and management.
Despite CMS’s comprehensive cost findings, MedPAC’s selective data edits paint a distorted picture — risking the financial future of thousands of ambulance services
In this video, risk management expert Gordon Graham encourages first responders to consider the impact of their time in the fire service
What happens if EMS providers who use marijuana safely and legally test positive days later in violation of policies?
The 8th annual What Paramedics Want survey wants to hear from medical first responders, EMTs and paramedics about their expectations of leaders and opportunities for professional development
A 13-step action plan to provide compassionate and effective care while navigating the evolving legal landscape
Officials in Spartanburg note no foul play or CO poisoning
Leaders set the tone for agency culture across the board — including when it comes to wellness
The Air Methods helicopter was transporting an infant girl when it crashed in Upper Darby in Jan. 2022
The Fitch & Associates partners reflect on the past few decades and what’s ahead
Three takeaways from the conviction of Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain
We threaten our organization’s resiliency and progress when we make opinion-based decisions
Former Sedgwick County 911 dispatchers identifed Director Elora Forshee’s leadership as “tyrannical,” “discriminatory”
The driver, Michael Avery, had purchased containers and gasoline before crashing outside the Kodiak Center in Rochester
Michael Ladell Thomas faces manslaughter, felony DUI for a crash that killed ASAP EMS EMT Mary “Katie” Pipkin
An ambulance security New Year’s resolution
A jury found Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec guilty of criminally negligent homicide for administering ketamine to McClain
Navigating the evolution of leadership styles
Pittsburgh EMS Chief Amera Gilchrist shares the progressive plan she fervently believes will reduce staffing challenges
Highlands County Fire-Rescue units were initially sent to a report of people burning debris on the side of a road
In closing arguments, Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson said the Aurora paramedics did not properly assess McClain’s condition
Which event will have the biggest impact on EMS? Cast your vote
Prosecutors said the Aurora paramedics did not properly assess McClain and ultimately gave him a significant overdose of ketamine
Wellstar is shifting patients from its East Point clinic to Southside Medical Center and providing financial assistance for that clinic’s expansion
Former Acadian Ambulance Paramedic Samrat Mukherjee was indicted for claiming to be a licensed medical doctor
Aurora paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec each face criminally negligent homicide and other charges
Focusing on observed behavior will help protect both the individuals needing assistance and the officers responding to the situation
Investigators focused on pilot errors involving the vortex ring state during the second training flight of the Mercy Flight helicopter
“In the process of entering the bore, the handgun was attracted to the magnet and fired a single round. The patient received a gunshot wound in the right buttock area,” the adverse event report states
More staff, better leaders needed
The ambulance came to a stop on the lawn right in front of the entrance of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office
The first university officer arrived within 78 seconds of the gunfire report, and university and city police swarmed the building
The paramedic took a woman to the hospital for a miscarriage, only to be asked to return to the home to look for a deceased infant
The paper emphasizes the need for uniform FBI-compliant biometric criminal history checks for all U.S. EMS practitioner licenses
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