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.
EMS providers and leaders have a “duty to act” to ensure patients are treated with dignity and compassion
”... As frustrated as I’ve ever been on a call, I can’t fathom doing any of these things to a patient,” one commenter wrote
When lots of red flags are waving, assess the patient, provide compassionate care and always take “I can’t breathe” seriously
Police said AMR paramedics saw Clarence Pate assaulting a woman in a vehicle, and one was assaulted by Pate after getting out to help
Fire officials said the man was arrested after destroying a flag that was “proudly displayed” on the back of an ambulance
The suit claims cruise ship operators demonstrated “shocking and appalling negligence and callous disregard for human life”
Clinton Walker was fired after an internal investigation concluded he had “unwavering loyalty” to the Outlaws, long considered Florida’s dominant motorcycle gang
Guardian Flight officials said they contracted aerial surveys of the coastline in the plane’s last known location
Jawwaad Tasawwur Robinson first sparked a fire after crashing a vehicle into a tree, and was receiving medical treatment when he stole a fire department truck
Michael Janusek allegedly misappropriated money from the Chicago Heights Fire Department’s foreign fire tax fund
Our co-hosts discuss a new bill that recently passed Virginia’s Senate to allow EMS providers the option to conceal carry on the job
Officials approved a $75,000 settlement for a claim filed by the son of the deceased man Bellingham Fire Department staff practiced endotracheal intubations on
Dash cam footage shows semi-truck driver Michael Mack ramming an ambulance that had its lights and sirens on off the highway
Robert Reasonover and Tyler Rathert allegedly logged into AMR’s accounting system and claimed hours they never worked
The lawsuit claims workers waited about 25 minutes before calling 911 after Thomas Becker fell ill, even though there’s a fire station about a half-mile away
Investigations commissioned by Hennepin Healthcare found that its paramedics and research staff acted appropriately in its ketamine study of agitated patients
Five Mad River Twp. Fire/EMS Department responders resigned after firefighter-paramedic Michael Newkirk claimed leaders were intimidating and hostile
Lambton EMS paramedics Blake Smith and Mark Duffy helped defuse an “extremely violent” scene where one officer was injured
The city of Seattle agreed to pay $65.75 million to the family of Brooke Taylor, marking the largest individual personal injury settlement in the city’s history
Police said the Calgary EMS crew was loading a patient into an ambulance when a vehicle struck one of the paramedics
FDNY EMT Ryan Walsh testified in a first-degree assault trial and gave a graphic description of the scene inside the building where the attack occurred in 2016
Why compromise on capabilities when recruiting EMS providers?
Jose Gonzalez, who is accused of fatally running over FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo, is charged with murder, manslaughter and robbery
Empower through responsibility and invest through insight in your supervisory staff and company culture
Officials said Parks Terry fled from police on a golf cart and locked himself inside a house, where he later attacked a paramedic who came inside
Christopher Hartley was arrested on a child-neglect charge after an 11-month-old ingested his heroin and Xanax pills
Autonomy, leadership, resource commitment and integrative processes bolster successful volunteer EMS agencies
“Detectives are following credible leads to include witness interviews and phone data collection,” Sarasota police PIO Genevieve Judge said
Oak Bluffs Fire Chief John Rose and firefighter-EMT David Smith were driving by when they saw Trooper Dustin Shaw fighting with a driver he had pulled over
A whistleblower said William Watson, who was still in training, did not have sirens activated when the ambulance crashed and a woman was killed
The footage allegedly shows Ricardo Kendle being arrested after attempting to steal an ambulance at a hospital
Two doctors have had their licenses suspended after working together to sell prescriptions through an insurance company they created
Marcel Thomas was being transported to the hospital when he allegedly became aggressive and demanded the ambulance be stopped
