Hospital response policy

[medic308]

Hey guys, just heard about an interesting call and wondered how you would respond. Generic Ems agency dispatched to generic hospital parking lot (30 feet from the front enterance) for an injury from a fall. Only hospital staff there is security and one nurse.
I was always under the impression that hospitals were responsible for injuries within 100 feet of their doors. Anyone hear of this before?

 

[Medic Tim]

Hey guys, just heard about an interesting call and wondered how you would respond. Generic Ems agency dispatched to generic hospital parking lot (30 feet from the front enterance) for an injury from a fall. Only hospital staff there is security and one nurse.
I was always under the impression that hospitals were responsible for injuries within 100 feet of their doors. Anyone hear of this before?

Never heard of that policy before. I have responded to Hospital parking lots and ER waiting rooms before. I have also responded to an in hospital fall on a med surg floor as the hospitals response teams were all tied up.

 

[medicdan]

Hey guys, just heard about an interesting call and wondered how you would respond. Generic Ems agency dispatched to generic hospital parking lot (30 feet from the front enterance) for an injury from a fall. Only hospital staff there is security and one nurse.
I was always under the impression that hospitals were responsible for injuries within 100 feet of their doors. Anyone hear of this before?

You're thinking of EMTALA, which says hospitals cannot turn away patients presenting to the hospital, have to ensure they're taken care of, which they can do by calling 911 or sending a hospital resource team.

I've done these calls a dozen times. Handle it like a scene call and transport to the ED. I'd recommend actually placing the patient in your truck if feasible in order to honestly bill Medicare/Medicaid.

 

[WolfmanHarris]

This is going to be dependent on both local laws and Hospitals. Due to a few high profile cases I recall reading about Hospitals making policy changes to cover their entire property in addition to 911 rather than calling 911 and ignoring the call. One of my favourite "Duh" moments is the odd call we do to an outpatient surgery located across the street from the hospital, in a building owned by the hospital, staffed by hospital staff with an overpass into the hospital connecting the buildings has to call 911 because the elevator is slightly too small for their stretchers.

 

[medic308]

Thanks guys I appreciate the info. Just sounded like an interesting case.

 

[johnrsemt]

Interesting ones are when you are dispatched to the parking lot for a fall (slipped on ice) and the patient wants to go to a different hospital than the one they fell at.
Sometimes they are upset because the hospital didn't take care of them, sometimes for insurance reasons

 

[Tigger]

I was under the impression that even if the hospitals called 911 that they were still obligated to provide care to injured individuals on their property. I cannot find anything to support this however. All the hospitals here have regular ambulance stretchers with some BLS gear on them parked in the ER, they send some techs out to go retrieve patients who fall and things like that.

 

[ZombieEMT]

I have had multiple calls in the waiting room of the local ED. Normally, wanting transport to another hospital. Also had a traumatic fall of a patient's family member at a non-trauma center. Staff requested transport to trauma center, as well as assistance with c-spine as they do not do it routinely.