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.
Understand the four components of a negligent act and how to protect yourself from a negligence claim
EMS and law enforcement collaborative training helps prepare responders to treat and monitor patients experiencing a constellation of symptoms
A case in New Mexico highlights the importance of thorough assessments after paramedics deemed a patient’s self-inflicted gunshot wound unsurvivable
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
The airplane’s cockpit voice recorder, cockpit image recorder and other electronic components will be transported to the NTSB laboratory
When lots of red flags are waving, assess the patient, provide compassionate care and always take “I can’t breathe” seriously
“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”
The Cleveland EMS provider was in uniform at the time of the attack in 2021
The 35-year-old man died from compressional and positional asphyxia, which a coroner said was a result of being placed face down on a stretcher
The Springfield patient, who may have been experiencing hallucinations, was placed face-down on a stretcher and restrained
Rachel Peace’s husband, Gary Peace, died after suffering a heart attack; her lawsuit names 11 defendants
The suit states the city suppressed the salaries of EMS providers and says their work is substantially equal to firefighters’ work
A patient handcuffed to a stretcher reportedly kicked the responder with enough force that he was pushed out the rig’s doors and onto the ground
Deven R. Dearing used social media to initially interact with the teenager
The three people on board — a pilot, a flight paramedic and a flight nurse — are all presumed dead
The claim has prompted Town Council to rethink the contract with the Hermon Volunteer Rescue & First Aid Squad
Some of her family members wept and some walked away during the playing of a cellphone video that showed the aftermath of the 2017 incident
Why right-sizing EMS response is crucial to increasing pay and improving work-life balance
The rescue of four people who survived took hours and involved helicopters and firefighters rappelling down the cliffside
“I feel great about the opportunity to serve New York City in this way,” said Michael Fields, former deputy assistant chief of EMS Operations
Our co-hosts recount the EMS stories that generated the most debate on the podcast during the year; do you agree with their conclusions?
Lisa Sillins, 55, was crossing the street to the employee parking lot when she was struck by a driver reportedly under the influence
“He spun back around and shoved Fire Chief Larry Fisher in the chest causing him to go backwards into the ambulance door,” a Merrimac Police Officer said
Davenport leaders have decided to back a plan to bring nonprofit MEDIC under the county’s umbrella
Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are critical for keeping team members involved and prepared for the challenges they face
Frustrated EMS providers described a chaotic scene and said they were uncertain who was in charge, where they should be and how many victims to expect
The Hammond Fire Department has made an average of 15 runs per day to the hospital’s emergency room in the last five years
Christopher Biggs, now working as a paramedic with Keyser EMS, was permitted to work as long as he coordinates his schedule with home confinement officials
“If he never learned the consequences of spitting in a grown man’s face, then consider my actions a public education,” the firefighter told Telemundo
The EMT said the patient punched and kicked her, leading to his arrest; his family claims his movements were injury symptoms
What we can learn about retention from EMS rising stars
