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.
“When the prosecutor sees and hears compassion, competence and professionalism, even in the face of significant errors being made, it becomes much harder to justify filing criminal charges”
Why right-sizing EMS response is crucial to increasing pay and improving work-life balance
Our co-hosts recount the EMS stories that generated the most debate on the podcast during the year; do you agree with their conclusions?
Toxic leaders in EMS destroy morale, initiative and progress; look for these signs in yourself and your department’s leadership
Fullerton Police Department Chief David Hendricks and Capt. Thomas Oliveras were at a concert when they allegedly assaulted two EMTs who were treating Hendricks’ wife
AmeriCare MedServices accused 12 cities of conspiring to monopolize the EMS market and shut them out from contracts
East Texas Medical Center, Paramedics Plus and Emergency Medical Services Authorities agreed to a settlement in a suit that alleged an illegal kickback scheme
Surveillance footage shows the man drawing swastikas on an ambulance and walking away
State investigators found that four Chris Jensen Health and Rehabilitation Center nurses failed to attempt resuscitation last May of a patient who died
Drug detectives raiding an apartment were exposed to the potent opioid fentanyl as it burst into the air when the suspects attempted to toss evidence
Jason Laut was sentenced to 9 years in prison for stealing fentanyl and morphine from ambulances
The suspect kicked and attempted to head-butt the EMTs, and police noted it took substantial force to get him in the back of an ambulance
Mandy Horvath, 25, faces charges of second-degree assault — a Class 4 felony— and two DUI misdemeanors
Paramedic Cole Worley, who is married to a doctor, faces 15 criminal charges related to false prescriptions for Adderall
Chief Anthony Campbell told the media Friday that the surge of synthetic marijuana overdoses, which gripped the city for more than 24 hours, seem to have calmed down
Anniston EMS sued Oxford EMS, claiming the agency’s leaders “interfered with contracts and/or business relations” of Anniston EMS
Near-miss reporting can help build a culture of safety in your agency and improve the EMS profession as a whole
Positive beginning and ending patient interactions fall into the “serial positioning effect” and can boost patient care reviews
The paramedic crew was responding to a medical emergency when thieves broke into their ambulance and stole a purse and keys, along with medical supplies
Natasha Michelle Scott allegedly led police on a chase that reached 90 miles per hour before she was captured a half-hour later with the use of a spike strip
Patient-centered care partnerships with patients and family need to start at the top
Three suspects forced a 44-year-old FDNY EMT at gunpoint into his car after his shift
Allegations of false education credits being awarded to SFD paramedics prompted an investigation by city and state officials
Steven Snively and Christopher Marchant were fired from the Hamilton Paramedic Service after being criminally charged with failure to provide necessities of life
Our co-hosts discuss a recent article that raises the question of personal liability for EMS workers
Position statements from our national leadership are helpful, but we must make culture change ourselves
The EMS crew found Thien Nguyen, who was suspected of breaking into a store, after he fell off of his bicycle
Jumaane Williams was sentenced to time served after blocking an ambulance during a protest over the detention of a prominent immigration rights activist
Federal investigators said the plane had been repaired three times in the six weeks before it crashed Nov. 2016, killing four people
Officials said Pamela Cash grew impatient while waiting for relatives to pick her up and decided to drive home in the ambulance
The city of Paterson will pay $166,666 in retroactive checks to 33 EMTs, which covers pay raises the EMTs claimed they could have received from 2003 to 2007
Police said Curtis Collman II not only refused to call 911 to try and save his son, but threatened others who tried to call for help as the boy overdosed on meth
Officials said the man chased paramedics with an ax, rammed a van into an ambulance, then tried to steal the ambulance
