Wambulance
Forum Probie
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You're an off-duty AEMT on your way to run errands when you happen upon a car fire with an injured driver and a fire engine just pulling up. Your state's Good Samaritan laws have a "Duty to Act" clause, but you also just want to help, because it's a rural area and there are only two firefighters on the truck and no ambulance in sight.
You and another driver (a civilian who stopped to help) assist the firefighter in pulling the patient away from the burning car. You know the firefighter: in fact, he is your colleague. The car accident happened in your agency's service area.
The FF/EMT is with the patient but doesn't know anything about whether any higher-level care is en route and doesn't have a radio. The patient has facial burns and indications of smoke inhalation; his tongue is dark-colored and appears swollen; you are worried about airway maintenance, but you don't have any medical equipment, and there's none on the engine. You think a paramedic intercept and possibly med-flight might be necessary on account of the severity of the airway compromise (it's a rural area a fair distance from definitive care), but you have no way to communicate, so you leave the patient with the on-duty EMT, who also can't do anything, and jog about three yards over to the other FF, who has assumed incident command and start to ask him about who's en route and if you should get on a radio and contact dispatch. He tells you he's busy and you need to "f*** off."
Just then an ambulance pulls up and you jog back to the patient and help load him; an AEMT from the ambulance assumes care at that point.
You're pretty steamed about the IC yelling at you for no good reason, but chalk it up to stress-*******ry and go home and have a nice weekend.
On Monday, your boss sends you an e-mail saying you don't need to come into work that week because you are now on unpaid leave pending an investigation of negligence and patient abandonment because you were the higher-level provider and left the patient. Oh and also the IC thinks you have an attitude problem because you were "demanding" and questioned his authority on scene. (Which you didn't; you were calm and professional and just trying to help)
Does your boss have a case?
You and another driver (a civilian who stopped to help) assist the firefighter in pulling the patient away from the burning car. You know the firefighter: in fact, he is your colleague. The car accident happened in your agency's service area.
The FF/EMT is with the patient but doesn't know anything about whether any higher-level care is en route and doesn't have a radio. The patient has facial burns and indications of smoke inhalation; his tongue is dark-colored and appears swollen; you are worried about airway maintenance, but you don't have any medical equipment, and there's none on the engine. You think a paramedic intercept and possibly med-flight might be necessary on account of the severity of the airway compromise (it's a rural area a fair distance from definitive care), but you have no way to communicate, so you leave the patient with the on-duty EMT, who also can't do anything, and jog about three yards over to the other FF, who has assumed incident command and start to ask him about who's en route and if you should get on a radio and contact dispatch. He tells you he's busy and you need to "f*** off."
Just then an ambulance pulls up and you jog back to the patient and help load him; an AEMT from the ambulance assumes care at that point.
You're pretty steamed about the IC yelling at you for no good reason, but chalk it up to stress-*******ry and go home and have a nice weekend.
On Monday, your boss sends you an e-mail saying you don't need to come into work that week because you are now on unpaid leave pending an investigation of negligence and patient abandonment because you were the higher-level provider and left the patient. Oh and also the IC thinks you have an attitude problem because you were "demanding" and questioned his authority on scene. (Which you didn't; you were calm and professional and just trying to help)
Does your boss have a case?