EMT- Chapter 3: Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues

Expressed consent

permission that must be obtained from every conscious adult who has the capacity to understand and make a reasoned judgment before emergency treatment can be provided

False imprisonment

the intentional and unjustifiable detention of a person without his consent or other legal authority

Good Samaritan law

a law that provides immunity from liability for acts performed in good faith to assist at the scene of a medical emergency unless those acts constitute gross negligence

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

a federal law enacted in 1996 that protects the privacy of patient health care information and gives the patient control over how the information is distributed and used

Implied consent

the assumption that in a true emergency in which a patient who is unresponsive or cannot make a rational decision is at a significant risk of death, disability, or deterioration of a condition, that patient would agree to emergency treatment. Also called the emergency doctrine.

Informed consent

consent for treatment that is given by a patient who has the capacity to understand and make a reasoned judgement based on full disclosure of possible risks and consequences

Intentional tort

a wrongful act, injury, or damage that is committed knowingly

Involuntary consent

consent that is assumed when the patient either lacks the capacity to understand and make a reasoned judgment or is legally not permitted to make his own medical decisions

Libel

the act of injuring a person's reputation or good name in writing or through the mass media which malicious intent or reckless disregard for falsity of those statements.

Living will

a legal document that delineates the signer's wishes about general health care issues such as the use of long-term life support measures

Minor consent

permission obtained from a parent or legal guardian for emergency treatment of a minor or an adult who has been legally ruled mentally incompetent

Negligence

the act of deviating from an accepted standard of care through carelessness, inattention, disregard, inadvertence, or oversight, which results in further injury to the patient

Physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST)

Orders that identify the desired level of life-sustaining treatment in patients with terminal or life-threatening illness who are not likely to survive. Also known as medical orders for life-sustaining treatment (MOLST)

Proximate cause

The last element necessary to support a claim of negligence. An act or omission of an act that is the cause of injury; an event without which the injury would not have occurred.

Scope of practice

the actions and care that an EMT is legally allowed to perform, as typically defined by state laws

Slander

the act of injuring a person's reputation or good name through spoken statements with malicious intent or reckless disregard for the falsity of those statements

Standard of care

emergency care that would be expected to be given to a patient by any trained EMT under similar circumstances

Tort

a wrongful act, injury, or damage

Abandonment

The act of discontinuing emergency care without ensuring that another health care professional with equivalent or better training will take over

Advance directive

instruction, written in advance, such as a do not resuscitate (DNR) order, a living will, or a durable power of attorney

Assault

a willful threat to inflict harm on a person

Battery

the act of touching a person unlawfully without his consent

Consent

permission that must be obtained before care is rendered

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

a federal regulation that ensures the public's access to emergency health care regardless of ability to pay

Defamation

an intentional false communication that injures another person's reputation or good name

Do not resuscitate (DNR) order

a legal document, usually signed by the patient and his physician, that indicates to medical personnel which, if any, life-sustaining measures should be taken when the patient's heart and respiratory functions have ceased

Durable power of attorney

a legal document that designates a person who is legally empowered to make health care decisions for the signer of the document if he cannot do it himself. Also called a health care proxy.

Duty to act

the obligation to care for a patient who requires it

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)

a federal regulation that ensures the public's access to emergency health care regardless of the person's ability to pay. Also known as the "anti-patient-dumping statute," forbidding turning a patient away at the door or sending him to a public hospital because of an inability to pay