Think of the down side. He falls down the stairs and sustains further injury. The airport just paid for all his great grandkids to attend college.
A neighboring service in my area a few years ago was walking a pt that was perfectly able to ambulate. The PTs driveway had some ice on it and she face planted into the steel bumper of the rig. Both EMTs fired, agency settled out of court for a huge payout. Bottom line is that once you take on someone as a pt you are responsible for their safety and well being until transferred to hospital staff. If your having an issue getting this past the airports ems system, ask the airports legal counsel if a PT injured walking down a set of stairs where there is standard ems equipment and procedures that could have moved him safely and if it could expose you to any litigation.
That's just bad luck for the crew. Only the patient slipped on HIS ice covered driveway. not the 2 man crew, not the 4 man first response engine crew, not the 2 cops who showed up a well, just the patient, and it was bad luck that he face planted into the steel bumper. Based on that suit, I would say if the crew had slipped and fell, they could sue the patient for a huge amount, as well as their employer for not providing them with shoes to walk on ice. Not only that, but EMTs get fired all the time, not necessarily for doing anything wrong, but because the employer can easily replace them, and it makes the appearance that they fixed a problem. Ditto the fact of the large out of court settlement, often that was because it's cheaper than going to court, or the negative PR of winning in court (big ambulance company beats lawsuit over injured party) or the attorney fees or going to court would be greater than the payout to the victim.
There is a lot more that goes into court cases and out of out settlements than whether or not someone was wronged; often it's just cheaper to settle than beat them in court, and sometimes it's not even the defendant that is making the decision to settle it's their insurance company.
As for the OP's question, Where are all the people who insist that spinal immobilization doesn't do anything (quoting every study), and is a waste of time and uncomfortable for the patient, actually causing more harm than any good it might do?
IF the patient can walk down the stairs, than he walks down the stairs. nothing wrong with his legs. If you carry him, and one of your crew's grip slips, and he goes tumbling, now you have paid for grad school for all his great grand kids. if you are carrying him, and the wind blows the wrong way, resulting in 1 or 2 back injuries for the crew, and he goes tumbling, than you have paid for grad school for his great grand kids and have two more people out on workman's comp injuries.
This patient is 94 years old, there is a good chance he has been walking for the past 90+ years. If he is able to walk without assistance normally, and he is still able to walk without assistance, and there isn't a medical reason why he shouldn't, than there is nothing wrong with him walking.
The above statement aside, every patient should be greeted with a carrying device in hand. I like the old style stair chair my self, the one without treads, because its lighter and more maneuverable in tight areas. However, just because you have it, doesn't mean the patient is getting carried. That is my general rule, regardless of location. But if your agency has a written policy that everyone over 65 gets carried (or whatever age you pick), than everyone over said age gets carried, and any injuries to the crew that result in it are all paid for by the agency.
I know at the airport in my primary area, our ambulance doesn't go through the terminal. We are escorted by airport PD on the tarmac directly to the gait, and then walk up the steps to the appropriate gate. It's a pretty busy airport too, and we have a unit stationed there 24/7, and we get maybe 10 calls there a day, 20 on a busy day where we send multiple units there. so all access is via the stairs, and the stretcher is never brought in, but the stairchair (or a similar carrying device) always is.
