reaper
Working Bum
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That news to me!
It's my understanding that in MA there is no "duty to act" if you are off-duty. That if you do respond to assist a person with an injury or medical issue that you act at your level of certification. If your an EMT-B you would provide care at that level. Anything less could be considered negligent even with the good samaritan laws.
This is a bit confusing though... if I am off duty and I find a woman that was holding an icepack to her head because she tripped and hit her head... She has no AMS, Pupils = round and reactive, she is pink-warm & dry. No loss of consciousness w/ Slight nausea and dizziness that went away after sitting for a bit. BUT I didn't put her in a collar with a back board (because I was off duty at my non-emt job) and just recommended that she go to the hospital or see her doctor ASAP. She didn't want an ambulance and it didn't seem she needed one. She was picked up and taken to her doctor.
So would that be negligent? Should you really not get involved unless it is major trauma, because then you would call an ambulance anyway?
Might want to double check that one.
There was an Ocseola (IIRC) FF who stopped at an accident scene, was stuck and killed, along with a doctor who had stopped as well.
He was granted full LODD benefits because then Gov. Bush had signed a law into effect that stated LEOs, FFs and EMS personnel had a duty to act.
Gimme some time to double check that.
And after the incident, state policy was changed so that all such injuries and deaths among employees of government fire and EMS agencies in Florida are now considered to be in the line of duty. That’s a nice legacy for a young firefighter who gave his life. But it’s only one aspect to the complicated issue of off-duty responses.
(3) If an emergency medical technician or paramedic is appointed or employed full time by a municipality, the state, or any political subdivision, is certified under chapter 401, is providing basic life support or advanced life support services, as defined in s. 401.23, in an emergency situation in this state, and such activities would be considered to be within the course of his or her employment as an emergency medical technician or paramedic and covered by the employer's workers' compensation coverage except for the fact that the location of the emergency was outside of the employer's jurisdiction or area of responsibility, such activities are considered to be within the course of employment. The provisions of this subsection do not apply if the emergency medical technician or paramedic is performing activities for which he or she is paid by another employer or contractor.
Way to bring up a DEAD topic...
I might be getting of your topic of snowing but....
In the state of PA, we have a duty to act law which states that if an EMS provider stops at the scene (lets say its an MVA), that EMS provider must provide care, otherwise it's a breach of duty, which could make you liable for negligence. However, if you don't stop, then it's not a problem.
So say as an off duty PA EMT-B whose has a trauma kit in their personal car stops at an accident in Pennsylvania and administers treatment that a normal person would not know how to do, could they be sued for negligence if something goes wrong?