Chapter 6 Public Health, Chapter 7 Medical-Legal Aspects of Out-of-Hospital Care, Chapter 8 Ethics in EMS, Chapter 9 EMS System Communications , Chapter 18 Human Life Span Development , Chapter 20 Emergency Pharmacology (Module 2), CHAPTER 21 TERMS

epidemiology

study of factors that influence the frequency, distribution, and causes of injury, disease, and other health-related events in a population.

injury

intentional or unintentional damage to a person resulting from acute exposure to thermal, mechanical, electrical, or chemical energy or from the absence of such essentials as heat and oxygen

injury risk

hazardous or potentially hazardous situation that puts people in danger of sustaining injury.

injury surveillance program

ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of injury data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice.

primary prevention

keeping an injury from ever occurring

public health

science and practice of protecting and improving the health of a community through preventive medicine, health education, control of communicable diseases, application of sanitary measures, and monitoring of environmental hazards.

secondary prevention

medical care after an injury or illness that helps to prevent further problems from occurring.

tertiary prevention

rehabilitation after an injury or illness that helps the person manage long-term effects of the injury and attain the ability to function to the fullest possible extent.

Years of productive life

calculation made by subtracting the age at death from 65.

Abandonment

termination of the paramedic-patient relationship without assurance that an equal or greater level of care will continue.

actual damages

physical, psychological, or financial harm that can be compensated.

administrative law

legislation that is enacted by governmental agencies at either the federal or state level.

advanced directive

legal document prepared when a person is alive, competent, and able to make informed decisions about health care. The document provides guidelines on treatment if the person is no longer capable of making decisions.

assault

act that unlawfully places a person in apprehension of immediate bodily harm without his consent.

battery

unlawful touching of another individual without that person's consent.

breach of duty

action or inaction that violates the standard of care expected from a EMS practitioner.

capacity

judgment by a medical caretaker or clinician that a patient has the mental capacity to make informed decisions about medical care.

civil law

division of the legal system that deals with noncriminal issues and conflicts between two or more parties.

civil rights

personal rights; the rights of personal liberty guaranteed to American citizens by the 13th and 14th amendments to the United States Constitution and by certain acts of Congress.

common law

type of law derived from society's acceptance of customs and norms over time

competence

ability to make an informed decision about medical care

Confidentiality

principle of law that prohibits release of medical or other personal information about a patient without the patient's consent.

consent

granting of permission for treatment by a patient.

constitutional law

statutes and legal procedures based on the U.S. Constitution.

criminal law

division of the legal system that deals with wrongs committed against society or its members.

defamation

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

Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)

legal document, usually signed by the patient and the patient's 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.

duty to act

formal contractual or informal legal obligation to provide care

emancipated minor

person under 18 years of age who is married, pregnant, a parent, a member of the armed forces, or financially independent and living away from home.

employment laws

statutes that address employee/ employer relationships.

excited delirium syndrome (ExDS)

mental state and state of physiologic arousal that appears to result from increased dopamine levels in the brain. It can be caused by drug intoxication (including by alcohol) or psychiatric illness or a combination of both; typically presenting as a triad of effects: delirium, psychomotor agitation, and physiologic excitation

expressed consent

verbal, nonverbal, or written communication by a patient that expresses that person's agreement to receive medical care.

false imprisonment

intentional and unjustifiable detention of a person without their consent or other legal authority.

Good Samaritan Law

statutes that provide immunity to certain people who assist at the scene of a medical emergency.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

law enacted by the United States Congress in 1996 that includes provisions for protecting the security and privacy of a person's health information.

immunity

exemption from legal liability

implied consent

presumed consent for treatment for a patient who is mentally, physically, or emotionally unable to grant consent.

informed consent

patient's consent for treatment that is given on the basis of full disclosure of information.

intentional tort

civil wrong committed by one person against another based on a willful act.

invasion of privacy

violation by one person of another person's personal life or personal information.

involuntary consent

court-ordered consent for medical care or treatment of a person.

legislative law

type of law created by lawmaking bodies such as Congress and state assemblies.

liability

legal responsibility.

libel

act of injuring a person's character, name, or reputation by false statements made in writing or through the public media with malicious intent or reckless disregard for the falsity of those statements.

living will

legal document that allows a person to specify the kinds of medical treatment they wish to receive should the need arise.

malfeasance

breach of duty by performance of a wrongful or unlawful act.

minor

depending on state law, this is usually a person under the age of 18.

Misfeasance

breach of duty by performance of a legal act in a manner that is harmful or injurious.

Negligence

deviation from accepted standards of care recognized by law for the protection of others against the unreasonable risk of harm. Four elements that must be present to prove this in a court of law are duty to act, breach of duty, actual damages, and proximate cause

negligence per se

committed as a result of violating a statute with resultant injury;

nonfeasance

breach of duty by failure to perform a required act or duty.

Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

set of orders regarding care for a terminally ill patient, signed by a physician, to be honored by health care providers who deal with the patient.

positional asphyxia

lack of oxygen resulting in unconsciousness or death that occurs in a person who is in a position that inhibits breathing such as someone who is being restrained face down

professional boundaries

ethical and societal limits to the interactions between members of a profession, such as doctors or paramedics, and the clients or patients they serve.

proximate cause

action or inaction of an EMS or other medical practitioner that immediately caused or worsened the damage suffered by the patient.

reasonable force

minimal amount of force necessary to ensure that an unruly or violent person does not cause injury to himself or others.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

legal doctrine invoked by plaintiffs to support a claim of negligence; it is a Latin term that means "the thing speaks for itself."

restraint asphyxia

lack of oxygen resulting in unconsciousness or death that occurs in a person who is in a position that inhibits breathing such as someone who is being restrained face down

scope of practice

range of duties and skills paramedics and other levels of EMS practitioner certification are allowed and expected to perform.

slander

act of injuring a person's character, name, or reputation by false or malicious statements spoken with malicious intent or reckless disregard for the falsity of those statements.

standard of care

degree of care, skill, and judgment that would be expected under like or similar circumstances by a similarly trained, reasonable EMS practitioner in the same community.

tort law

division of the legal system that deals with civil wrongs committed by one individual against another.

autonomy

competent adult patient's right to determine what happens to that person's own body.

beneficence

principle of doing good for a patient or another.

ethics

rules or standards that govern the conduct of members of a particular group or profession.

justice

obligation to treat all patients fairly.

morals

social, religious, or personal standards of right and wrong.

Nonmaleficence

obligation not to harm the patient.

accelerometer

sensor in a vehicle that can measure a change in total velocity, forces applied to the vehicle, direction in which forces were applied, whether the vehicle rolled over, whether air bags were deployed, and the vehicle's final resting position

ad hoc database

collection of information about a patient that is added to each time the patient is encountered to include information such as vital signs, video, electronic health record, and voice-to-text medical findings that can be stored and then accessed as needed by rescuers, helicopter crew, and hospital physicians.

Advanced Automatic Collision Notification (AACN)

data collection and transmission system that can automatically contact a national call center or local public safety answering point and transmit detailed crash data, such as the type of vehicle, speed and direction of impact, and probable severity of injury to occupants.

automatic crash notification (ACN)

data collection and transmission system that can automatically contact a national call center or local public safety answering point and transmit limited specific crash data, such as that a crash has taken place and where it is located.

Automatic Location Information (ALI)

in computers at enhanced 911 communication centers, the ability to display the location of a caller's phone.

Automatic Number Identification (ANI)

in computers at enhanced 911 communication centers, the ability to display a caller's telephone number.

bandwidth

(1) width of a range of frequencies, measured in hertz; (2) rate of data transmission, measured in bits per second (bps).

call routing

process of transferring an emergency call to the nearest 911 center; occasionally technical problems cause such a call to be routed out of the call area.

cell

region of cell phone service.

cellular telephone system

type of wireless communication, called "cellular" because it is based on a complex of separate base stations, each covering one "cell" or geographic area. As a cell phone user travels, calls are transferred from base station to base station

cognitive radio

"smart" device that is able to search the airwaves it covers for strong signals with no competing transmissions to provide the best possible channel of communication

command presence

taking charge of an incident in an authoritative manner, including communicating, delegating tasks, and coordinating the scene.

Common Operating Picture

single display of operational information, such as data about a traffic crash and emergency responses to it, that is simultaneously shared by all units involved in responding to the emergency so that all those involved are working with the same information

communication

exchange of common symbols—written, spoken, or other kinds, such as signing and body language; process of exchanging information between individuals.

communication guidelines and protocols

predetermined, written guidelines for the type of information that may be transmitted by various means of communication without breaching patient confidentiality and privacy.

data dictionary

source of information about a specific set of data that provides definitions of terms, explanations of interrelations among the separate data, and similar information.

dead spot

area where transmission and reception of a radio or other signal is poor.

digital communications

data or sounds translated into a digital code for transmission, usually a binary code consisting of 1 and 0, the numbers corresponding to voltage values.

duplex

communications system that allows simultaneous two-way communications by using two frequencies for each channel.

echo procedure

immediately repeating each transmission received during radio communications to ensure it was accurately received.

emergency medical dispatcher

person who manages an EMS system's response and readiness and is responsible for assignment of emergency medical resources to a medical emergency

Enhanced 911

emergency 911 call system in which communication center computers display the caller's telephone number and location.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

agency that controls all nongovernmental communications in the United States.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

information system that stores and analyzes information about or within a specific geographic area for the purpose of aiding decision making within an organization or group for which the specific GIS has been developed.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

navigational satellite system in which satellites orbiting the earth provide specific time and location information.

handoff

process of transferring patient care to receiving facility staff; the verbal report given by an EMS practitioner to the receiving nurse or physician.

hotspot

Internet access that is provided over a wireless local area network through a router to an Internet service provider.

information communications technology (ICT)

information technology blended with communications technology to provide for dissemination of information.

mission-critical communications

information that must get through without fail because a patient's well-being depends on it.

mobile data unit (MDU)

vehicle-mounted computer keyboard and display with broadband capacity via radio or wireless connection, capable of sending ambulance status and patient information to the hospital or ambulance quarters.

multiband radio

type of radio or radio system that combines a wide range of radio bands, allowing services that operate on separate bands—such as police, fire, and EMS—to communicate across the separate systems.

multiplex

duplex communications system that can transmit voice and data simultaneously