Still Alarm Outside Your Jutisdiction

CAOX3

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Its seems that we have become a bit overwhelmed by the threat of litigation here.

I dont operate as an ALS provider so I cant answer that question.

Contact your medical control, I doubt he will instruct you to walk away.
 

tom

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i think you sould stil treat because althogh your registered in one state you still have your certificate to treat, but i do agree on calling 911 still
 

MIkePrekopa

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I haven't done any out of state trips (yet), but another company in town has a contract that brings them to NYC, from Scranton PA, fairly often.

The way I see it, it should go like this (assumed that you are an EMT-P, and out of state):
mind you this is coming from a new EMT-B

911: (insert local 911 speal here)

You (being a EMT-P): This is YourState Medic 1234 from YourCounty. While stopped at ABC rest stop there was a (Cardiac/Epileptic/whatever) emergency and we have started pt care at a BLS level. we are ALS capable and would like to begin ALS care. can you contact local medical command for us?

Now I don't know all the legal aspects of a PA medic in NYC, but the way I see it, know what your medical command DR thinks about the situation, and contact the medical command dr of a nearby hospital to see what they think.
 

JPINFV

Gadfly
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I haven't done any out of state trips (yet), but another company in town has a contract that brings them to NYC, from Scranton PA, fairly often.

The way I see it, it should go like this (assumed that you are an EMT-P, and out of state):
mind you this is coming from a new EMT-B

911: (insert local 911 speal here)

You (being a EMT-P): This is YourState Medic 1234 from YourCounty. While stopped at ABC rest stop there was a (Cardiac/Epileptic/whatever) emergency and we have started pt care at a BLS level. we are ALS capable and would like to begin ALS care. can you contact local medical command for us?

Now I don't know all the legal aspects of a PA medic in NYC, but the way I see it, know what your medical command DR thinks about the situation, and contact the medical command dr of a nearby hospital to see what they think.

That's assuming that the 911 operator is able to contact a base hospital.

As I mentioned before, could someone please explain to me the following? If paramedicine is a profession, why do the members insist on acting like technicians?
 
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tom

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That's assuming that the 911 operator is able to contact a base hospital.


lol, i think they should be able to contact hospitals...or at least know someone in the room who can, like a Control -> Hospital Liasion officer
 

JPINFV

Gadfly
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That's a big assumption still. Where I did the majority of my work, the medical control system had every paramedic assigned to one of 6 base hospitals (with the exception of one city who is under standing orders, but they generally contact one base hospital (which isn't their "resource" hospital) if they need a consult). The connection was done through the sheriff's dispatch center ("Orange County Communications") whereas the 911 operators are done through the city police department and transfered to the fire department as needed. I highly doubt most 911 operators would be able to connect you to one of the base hospitals, if they could even figure out what you were requesting.

Edit: Here's something else to ponder. What sort of physician would be willing to accept this responsibility? If you're a physician, are you really going to accept responsibility for the care rendered by a crew who you don't know, who is admittedly not supposed to be practicing in the area, and you can't verify in a timely manner (remember, unless it's a time sensitive emergency, the entire issue is moot) any information about them? Oh, so you (collective "ZOMG contact medical control group") don't have the intestinal fortitude to do what is proper, but because you're too scared about the repercussions of both providing and withholding care that you want to push the entire decision onto someone else who you have absolutely no professional relationship with? How many people here would take on that responsibility if you were a medical control physician? This is essentially like a company hiring two dudes off a street and taking their word that they have the appropriate education and certifications and doing absolutely nothing to verify anything before putting them on the street.
 
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jjesusfreak01

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If i'm the medical director in another county/state, and the crew on scene tells me they are a paramedic truck, i'll cover their butt so long as it's legal for me to do so. If they aren't actually qualified then that's totally on them, they probably wouldn't have called mc to ask.

You look at the situation, realize that this is a very rare occurrence, and then recognize that you are going to catch about 1,000,000 times as much flak if you don't let them help than if you do. The paramedics are already putting their own butts on the line by offering to help, so that should give them a little bit of credibility.
 
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