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.
What first responders can learn about fatigue management from the U.S. Army’s doctrine on readiness
“There has never been a more crucial time to have a wingmate in EMS – a wingmate to watch your six and guide each other through the storm”
Field supervisors need to ensure EMS personnel follow infection control guidelines and ambulance decontamination processes
Explaining the reason you are unable to cover an open EMT or paramedic shift is unnecessary and counter-productive
Avoid these mistakes to onboard EMTs who will thrive in EMS, and give their all to your agency
Orangeburg County EMS and the sheriff’s office will go to court after a judge ruled earlier that Paul Tarashuk’s death did not fall under qualified immunity
Make accountability easy, and it will protect your organization
Court finds judge was wrong to dismiss lawsuit against Southfield paramedics
Video showed Rochester police and AMR leaving the man on a bench where he fell over and was unattended for more than two minutes, the lawsuit claims
Offering educational options versus punitive responses can make all the difference
Identify and conquer the fight-or-flight response with these four simple steps
Suspect is accused of stabbing an EMT multiple times in 2019 during a wellness check transport
Former Aurora Paramedic Peter Cichuniec was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison
Newport News first responders had not followed protocols and incorrectly declared Quandrell Williams dead
Workers in the funeral home immediately started CPR but the woman died later at a hospital
Dispatcher Leon Price repeatedly asked the patient’s daughter whether the patient would be willing to be transported; she died a day later
Books
EMS Attorney David Givot clears up misconceptions about the law and EMS provider rights
Undocumented, unathorized expenditures and inadequate financial record-keeping some of the 10 findings inside the Plains Volunteer Ambulance Relief Association
HEMSI stated it will not appeal the decision on the 2019 incident
Captain Jeffrey Little removed the flags from three stations and asked to be exempt from having to raise them
Tyler Wenrich, VP of operations at Emergency Services Solutions Inc. had spent three weeks in prison
Uvalde families file suit against nearly 100 state police officers following a report that listed “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership and technology problems
Two Catskill EMS employees have resigned after a doorbell video showed their treatment of a patient who had fallen inside an ambulance
A group of EMS advocates are working to enact a passage of reforms called “Rescue EMS” that would make EMS an “essential” service under the law
Kelly Grayson: “Paramedics save lives, EMTs save paramedics"; championing the role of EMTs
Jeff Davis County EMS Chief Peggy Fonseca was escorted out of the courthouse over what she called a “witch hunt” about staffing and leadership
Learn how ATCEMS identified EMS training goals and implemented an assault reporting function to protect providers from violence
A Maryland paramedic recounts a patient assault, and the emergency services director and police chief detail legal options
In the spirit of today’s theme, we express our heartfelt gratitude to the remarkable members of the EMS community who go beyond the call every shift
Dive into a curated collection of must-read public safety books, from thrilling accounts and leadership lessons from the front lines, to read-aloud children’s favorites
Report and commentary from the North Carolina EMS Expo 2024
5 ways to motivate the unmotivated, and to help those floundering to flourish
Zavadsky details the potential changes to the MedStar system and his new position with the PWW Advisory Group
MOST POPULAR
- On-demand webinar: Unlocking opioid settlement funding for public safety agencies
- Drunk driver receives maximum sentence for crash that killed Mo. firefighter/paramedic
- Ind. county sheriff denies restraint claims before patient’s death
- DNR tattoos: Are they legal and is EMS bound to comply?
- Jury finds EMT not guilty of injuring patient during 2022 transport