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.
Can you have transparency without honesty and communication?
Processing trauma is more complicated than we think
Readers sound off on what’s attracting new talent and keeping members satisfied
The medical examiner’s office ruled Jesse Reed’s death a “suspected homicide” with “blunt force injuries” listed as a contributing cause of his death
Improving patient outcomes, hospital relations and the community narrative with data analysis
The EMT said he told the patient she needed to put out a cigarette before she could be transported to the hospital, and she then snubbed it out on his chest
Paramedic chiefs and field providers have much to learn from the FBI’s ongoing summary and analysis of active shooter incidents
Bruce Moeller offers strategies for tackling the aging population, dubbed the “silver tsunami,” at Fire-Rescue Med 2018
A section chief from St. Louis considers the scope and impact of opioid response on EMS providers and the role they play in combating the crisis
Innovative community paramedicine programs may offer a strategy to evolve EMS response from resuscitation to a recovery-oriented system of care
Is widespread naloxone administration by non-medically trained responders preventing overdose patients from reaching definitive care?
EMS can apply the four-lens foundation for the science of improvement to reducing opioid overdose deaths within their communities
Training, PPE and scene assessment will minimize the risks of opioid exposure to fire and EMS responders
AMR paramedic Liz Day said she was unfairly suspended after jumping into the water in an attempt to save drowning victim Xzavion Epps
A lawsuit claims an employee who found Gloria Fanning in “a state of distress” inside a float tank did not call 911, but called her boss instead
Lt. Andrew Hughes-Hill, 26, who was stabbed to death, was known for his positive attitude and love for emergency services
The family of William Comstock claims his prescription opioids left him “to battle the horrors of a tormented mind for the remainder of his days.”
The post mentioned a patient who died after suffering a heart attack in a backyard chicken coop
The shattered glass sprayed into the paramedic’s eye during the attack
The patrol says the stash was a record fentanyl seizure in Nebraska and estimates the drugs may have been worth up to $20 million on the street
Ashley Flores’ family filed a wrongful death claim against Los Angeles County and Sheriff Jim McDonnell, alleging that multiple 911 calls were misrouted
EMS1 leaders reflect on the fitting theme of EMS Week 2018, and how their colleagues have furthered their own careers and contributions to the field
With three psychologists offering varying views of the mental stability of Genaro De La Cruz Ajqui, a judge ordered him to be taken to a forensic hospital
Police said Kyle Jones joined a rapid response team in the same color scrubs worn by nurses at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital
Officials are seeking help from the state to figure out why DeKalb County did not hold AMR accountable for long response times
Sherry Groover’s lawyer said the “defendants failed to take action” when Groover’s brother suffered a fatal heart attack in 2014
The city of Mattoon filed a lawsuit against the union over an arbitration award that gave the city the power to remove ambulances from the fire department
After an EMT was shown punching a teen patient in an ambulance, city council officials want the state to give Dunwoody its own EMS certificate
EMT Deannah Williams can be seen screaming expletives and repeatedly punching the 17-year-old patient in the face
Anthony Mario Fortuna was sentenced for impersonating an EMS provider after receiving permission to be on a “ride along” in an AMR ambulance
The prosecution found Jose Gonzalez to be fit to stand trial for the murder of Yadira Arroyo, who was run over by her ambulance after it was stolen
Paramedics are outraged that Amanda Warren and Caris Underwood’s sentences were revoked because a judge said they should not be imprisoned
The responder told police he was working in the back of the ambulance when two suspects stole the ambulance and eventually pushed him out after a struggle
