Hi all!
My brother and I were unfortunate enough to witness a traffic collision just outside of Anaheim after leaving a Christmas event.
My brother has a certificate in EMT back from university and is quite knowledgeable on the care of trauma wounds. When we saw the collision he jumped into action and began treating the person quite well.
The ambulance arrived shortly and thanked him for what he did and told him he did a good job. He offered to sit in the back of the ambulance as they rushed the victim off to the hospital to assist them with the treatment. The crew told him that whilst they appreciated his help it would be illegal for them to let him come alone as there is policy against letting civilians help.
Is this true? I find the legal side of these things very interesting and am planning on doing a beginners law course soon and would love to specialize in this.
So for you paramedics out there, is it lawful for you to let a civilian join in the emergency treatment of a patient whilst the patient is under your care? If it is lawful, what happens if the civilian makes an error whilst the patient is legally underneath your duty of care? Who gets the blame?
Thanks all! And thank you all so much for the service you provide!
My brother and I were unfortunate enough to witness a traffic collision just outside of Anaheim after leaving a Christmas event.
My brother has a certificate in EMT back from university and is quite knowledgeable on the care of trauma wounds. When we saw the collision he jumped into action and began treating the person quite well.
The ambulance arrived shortly and thanked him for what he did and told him he did a good job. He offered to sit in the back of the ambulance as they rushed the victim off to the hospital to assist them with the treatment. The crew told him that whilst they appreciated his help it would be illegal for them to let him come alone as there is policy against letting civilians help.
Is this true? I find the legal side of these things very interesting and am planning on doing a beginners law course soon and would love to specialize in this.
So for you paramedics out there, is it lawful for you to let a civilian join in the emergency treatment of a patient whilst the patient is under your care? If it is lawful, what happens if the civilian makes an error whilst the patient is legally underneath your duty of care? Who gets the blame?
Thanks all! And thank you all so much for the service you provide!