Surviving a lawsuit

[crash_cart]

We've had some good threads about testifying, not to mention some news articles with a legal twist.:unsure: Here's an interesting article on how to get through the legal gauntlet.<_< Anyone face the fire?:wacko:

 

[Ridryder911]

It is a good advice and good article. Hence, which I personally recommend malpractice insurance. If you think your administration is going to protect you then you are being mistaken. Attorney fees can be enormous

R/r 911

 

[Gbro]

"This post is in no way intended to make light of your thread";

Ole had a terrible accident
In court, the trucking company's lawyer was questioning Ole. "Didn't you say, sir, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine,'?" asked the lawyer.
Ole responded, "Vell, I'll tell you vat happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule, Bessie, into the..."
"I didn't ask for any details", the lawyer interrupted. "Just answer the question.
Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?"
Ole said, "Vell, I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road...."
The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."

By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Ole's answer and said to the lawyer,
"I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule, Bessie".

Ole thanked the Judge and proceeded.

"Vell as I vas saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into da trailer and vas driving her down da highvay ven dis huge semi-truck and trailer ran da stop sign and smacked my truck right in da side. I vas thrown into one ditch and Bessie vas thrown into da other.
I vas hurting, real bad, and didn't vant to move. However, I could hear Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans".

"Shortly after da accident da Highway Patrolman came to da scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her".
"After he looked at her, and saw her fatal condition, he took out his gun and shot her right 'tween da eyes.
Then the Patrolman came across da road, gun still in hand, looked at me and said, 'How are you feeling?'
"Now vat the hell vould YOU say?"

 

[Gbro]

I was called to testify several times, Like previously stated. Have a run slip in your hand. That is your field notes, just like the LEO's use.
We had one "space user-upper", who would write his own little personal observations on each and every call, I used to think that was a good idea, until i learned he was just doing research into future lawsuits to file himself.
If it means anything, put it on the run report.
Weather, Ice rain whatever is good info to footnote, as questions like that are brought up often. too bad we don't have check boxes for such.

Another thing is to never answer a question you don't understand fully, If you are at all uncomfortable about the Q. Just state, "i don't understand the Question. This will work, it even works for leading questions, Like,
Did you see any bruising around the neck?, You may want to say, I was there, 3 min after the assault, and bruising may take up to 10 hours to....
whatever.
or
There was reddening around the neck.

The Defendants attorney will not want you to say anything but yes or no.
Unless you are an Expert Wittiness, you may be required to answer just yes or no.
You do not have to be the most knowledgeable EMS person to be qualified as an Expert. You have to request it.(before the trial, when you are deposed.

 

[Onceamedic]

The only argument I have with the article is the statement that paramedics are likely to be sued for negligence. Here in Wisonsin, there has NEVER been a successful lawsuit against an EMT (of any level) for medical negligence (including abandonment, consent issues, etc.) There have been many for ambulance crashes.
The best way to avoid a lawsuit is to drive carefully.

 

[Guardian]

"Lawyers are often portrayed as sleazy liars who break the law to win cases. While this characterization makes for great jokes, it's not really accurate. Lawyers in every state must adhere to a strict code of ethics, with violators facing hefty fines and loss of the right to practice."



^^^Hahahahahahahahaha! yea right. this thing must be written by a lawyer, because thats complete B.S.




In all seriousness, it's a pretty good article, thanks for posting.

 

[Ridryder911]

Here in Wisonsin, there has NEVER been a successful lawsuit against an EMT (of any level) for medical negligence (including abandonment, consent issues, etc.) .

I was able to find one against an EMT involving a health-club, and one involving a HIPAA violation. http://www.felhaber.com/newsletters/HLMSummer2003WEB.pdf

R/r 911

 

[burntbob]

lawsuits

Testifying in court are pretty common up here as we are called in as witnesses for coroners inquests , civil lawsuits, criminal cases etc. etc.
It's not so bad if you are just there to witness to what you saw or did and aren't the chief focus of the case. Even then the lawyers sometimes haven't done much research as to what your skills are and capabilities. We require all staff to put patient care on the call report and do separate incident reports of all the other little details, sequences, etc. etc. that happened.

Sadly restraint related deaths in the field and substance abuse/cocaine frenzy type "excited delirium" cases also drag medics into court because they are messy and nasty events with poor outcomes. Afterwards everybody is looking for someone to blame. As paramedics we need to stay on top of the latest research on these cases, educate our police partners and pay attention every second to the state of the patient, even if it's taking a dozen cops and medics to manage a freaked out guy with the power of superman from the coke.
I've been through that situation and though cleared after a long coroners inquest, police investigation, and civil( private lawsuit) still am burned that it took six years to get through, a lot of stress and very little to compensate for the extra time and worry except I still has my job and my certification when it was done.
Private insurance is great if you can afford it, You may be covered by your agency or employer if their insurance feels it's better to cover you. Thats pretty scary though it worked out okay in my case. I also was able to keep working the whole time so wasn't off in limbo.
The best defence is keeping up with your field and being the best clinician you can be. You can't afford to be complacent. Catch up medicine is always a gamble no matter how good you are.

 

[Onceamedic]

I was able to find one against an EMT involving a health-club, and one involving a HIPAA violation. http://www.felhaber.com/newsletters/HLMSummer2003WEB.pdf

R/r 911

Darn... can't load pdf files... I need to talk to my firewall <_<

Thanks for looking that up. I will let my paramedic instructor know so he can correct his lecture. Do you know him Rid ? His name is Jeff Clark. He was no. 5 nationally to be NREMT-P. He's got license number 2 in Wisconsin only because his last name starts with C and his classmate's started with B - He's ripped about that to this day
Nevertheless, he's worked for decades to establish a program with amazing clinical experience at the local hospitals. The ED staff love it when the paramedic school year starts because we take so much workload off of them. We get 10 times the required clinical experience. Its a great program.
Sorry to hijack the thread...
We now return you to the regularily scheduled program....

 

[Ridryder911]

Don't know him personally, I am sure there are "hidden" law suits out there. I know, I was very surprised when I visited a National Malpractice Insurance company many years ago on the number of litigation's. There are several hundreds that are "settled" out for multiple reasons.

The one I did find maybe involving an EMT not associated with an EMS rather individual. I did find the HIPAA violation interesting, since it went against an EMT personally. Again, to demonstrate none of us are resistant.

R/r 911