Right or $afe?
October 5th, 2009 at 1:07 am by MarkTags: hospitals, law, life, questions, responsibility
He’s passed out, not breathing… No pulse… You do what you know how to do… His eyes open… No breath… No pulse… It was just nerves… Continue… A wheeze, a cough… He grabs your neck… Blood trickles from his mouth… More coughs… Then flows…
Paramedics arrive… “He has a punctured lung!”
He won’t sue, will he?
October 5th, 2009 at 9:18am
I’m not clear whether this is something that happened or if it’s a rhetorical question, so I will just say that people who take these types of risks are a valuable yet dying breed.
It’s a horrible fact but these days we have to think about such things prior to taking action in good faith. I’m often sickened of the alternative side whereby someone has fallen to the floor in a checkout line, and people simply walk over them to the pay for their goods. It’s not uncommon. Most people just don’t want to get involved.
He may sue. The seed may be planted by the paramedics or the doctor who treated him that you performed CPR incorrectly even though it also happens in hospitals. He may believe it coming from a qualified professional. He may forget why he ended up there in the first place. He may forget that if you hadn’t done it in all probability he’d be on a slab in a morgue. Because if it were him, he probably wouldn’t get involved.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:38am
Shauna if you’re the same shauna what you said really pisses me off. It makes me mad as hell that so many people out there think all we want to do is make everyone wait for us to come on scene before performing CPR or basic first aid. I take it personally when people say things like that. But at the same time I know I work with people who have that attitude. They think they’re damn gods for being an EMT and a lot of doctors do to.
As far as if he’ll get sued or not what you said pisses me off but it’s true. But we’re not all like that. Some of us still want to help.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:50am
I also wanted to say sometimes lung punctures do happen with CPR. There are number of reasons like age and nutrition of a patient besides how long or hard you perform compressions. CPR is tough on a human body and that’s why we never see it performed correctly on tv or in movies. If you do that to a living person with a beating heart it will probably stop there heart.
A few years ago and you all may remember this if you’re from Knoxville there was a man choking in a downtown restaurant. Someone did the heimlich over the back of a chair and broke the man’s ribs. And he sued. I guess he would have rather be “on a slab” to.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:40am
Yes, Mr. Clevenger. How astute of you to notice. I won’t apologize for the statement because even you have to admit that the attitude of “maximum bill” is encouraged in the company. The local market is rife with competition. When you factor in the number of former and current local law enforcement officials manning abulances in Knox County and Knoxville alone, the only conclusion that can be made is that Rural Metro’s repeated bid wins are political. That is what you take personally. Admit it.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:04pm
Clearly Shauna has an agenda.
October 7th, 2009 at 10:09am
IGNORE THIS POLITICAL BULLSHIT AND GET BACK TO THE QUESTION. HOW FAR WAS IT BETWEEN WHEN HE COUGHED AWAKE THEN WHEEZED? THEN HOW LONG WHEN HE SPIT UP BLOOD? BECAUSE IF IT WAS ONLY SECONDS THE WHEEZE WAS THE AIR THAT HAD ALREADY FILLED HIS LUNG CAVITY AND HIS LUNG HAD FILLED WITH BLOOD AND HIS RIB WAS ALREADY BROKEN BEFORE YOU STARTED. LUNGS WONT FILL WITH BLOOD FROM SOMEONE WHOSE LYING THERE WITH NO PULSE AND IT’S NOT INSTANT. WHY WAS HE LYING THERE TO BEGIN WITH?
October 7th, 2009 at 10:28am
Ooh, the plot twists! An impressive catch!
Supposing that that could be the case, and that there may be a lawsuit based on seeds planted by EMT’s and hostpital staff, if a do-gooder is sued for saving a life, would he then be able to counter sue specific EMT’s or physicians who told the patient that it was the rescuers fault?
In an ideal world, yes he would. But in the real world, the lawyer would most likely convolute the case and attack the Ambulance Service or Hospital in order to earn maximum payout. Unfortunately, this is where many legal cases go awry.
While the process can be somewhat financially draining, they serve little purpose but to waste everyone’s time. The extent of an Ambulance Service’s liability in an instance like this would be to terminate the employee. Likewise, doctors do not work “for the hospital,” and patients sign an agreement to that end prior to treatment. This ensures that that hospital is shielded from various forms of litigation and puts the onus on the individual doctor.
October 7th, 2009 at 1:08pm
So everybody knows more about this than I do. Spill already! lol
October 10th, 2009 at 3:42pm
I have no idea. A bunch of fake comments prior to yours.