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.
Is this role expansion or a mission gone sideways?
Paramedics push back on Indiana county’s new agreement allowing fire department medics to assist in DUI blood testing, citing ethical and legal concerns
Paramedic Eddie Barnes saved a life with skills he wasn’t authorized to use — prompting an investigation that reveals the moral gray zone of modern EMS
Garden City officers say the EMT smelled of alcohol at a death scene and refused a breath test
A separation agreement shows Fort Worth will pay outgoing Chief Jim Davis nearly $100K as he drops potential claims, including age discrimination and whistleblower allegations
A former Nashville paramedic claims the city failed to accommodate his PTSD after a 2022 multi-fatality incident and retaliated when he sought help
Several major cities allege that the Trump administration imposed “unlawful and unrelated conditions” on more than $100M in public safety grants
Five graduates say the department reclassified them as EMS trainees just before contracts expired, then issued termination letters
The Finance Committee advanced an $8M payout in the ambulance restraint death and $7.5M to the family of pastors killed during a police chase
A Sarasota man got 40 years plus 20 years’ probation for a staged 2019 shooting at Sarasota County paramedics after an automated 911 “fall” alert
5 insidious partner issues to avoid so that patients feel safe in our care
The owners of a special event standby service in Nevada offer lessons learned from the Route 91 festival shooting in Las Vegas
Educators must make continuing education compelling, not just compulsory
New York State Police say the captain falsified timesheets to collect $14,230 he didn’t earn
On National Punctuation Day, test your knowledge of punctuation
Certified Vanderburgh County Fire Department medics can perform on-scene evidentiary blood draws, speeding investigations, reducing case delays and cutting unnecessary hospital trips
Whether public or private, your employer can take action. Understand when your words — on or off duty — cross legal and professional boundaries.
A Muslim civil rights group alleges the Baltimore Fire Department denied religious accommodation, selectively enforced its grooming policy and suspended him without offering a respirator fit test
The former Action Ambulance employee alleges retaliation after reporting violations, including expired controlled substance vials, failure to restock certain controlled substances and failure to maintain inventory
Acadian Ambulance fired a uniformed employee after a TikTok mocking Charlie Kirk’s killing, violating company standards
Follow a triaged response to what is posted and remember to discipline the behavior, not the content
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
The union accused Galveston EMS of prioritizing computer training over rapid hospital transport following a swift water rescue
Attorneys for 31-year-old Dontae Melton Jr. say officers restrained the man and waited nearly an hour for an ambulance that never came
The 18-year veteran had been placed on paid leave when officials learned he hadn’t disclosed criminal allegations that he tried to sell an opioid-addiction drug to an undercover agent
Ninth Circuit upholds Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, denies firefighters’ exemptions
Mislabeling public safety K9s creates confusion, liability and access issues during high-stakes deployments
The arrests came during a federal investigation that led the Bureau of Land Management to end contracts with two Oregon-based forestry companies
The Knox County EMS director had a blood alcohol content of nearly twice the legal limit
MOST POPULAR
- Trump moves to withdraw the U.S. from WHO
- Ala. fire chief addresses ‘inappropriate’ EMS training scenario
- Complaint filed over beard policy after Baltimore paramedic suspended
- What Trump’s executive orders tell us about his public safety agenda
- The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’: What EMS leaders must know now