Legal Issues
The legal issues topic contains news and information about legal issues affecting EMS personnel, agencies or departments. Find the latest news from personnel misconduct, to disciplinary and harassment cases, to malpractice lawsuits, as well as advice to prevent legal action with EMS training, documentation and management.
What happens if EMS providers who use marijuana safely and legally test positive days later in violation of policies?
Be the person you needed when you were new and set a positive example on every shift
Discover actionable strategies for EMS teams to minimize errors through rest, focus and teamwork
An audit by the San Jose Fire Department revealed possible drug theft and tampering at 16 additional fire stations
The former Yellow Breeches EMS chief has been sentenced to up to 17 years in state prison after being convicted of multiple sexual assault charges involving a minor
A Carroll County medic is charged with stealing liquid painkillers and replacing them with saline solution
Lakewood Township EMS faces a lawsuit from a patient seeking damages after a stretcher tipped over when she was being removed from the ambulance
A Sumter County man faces a maximum punishment of 6 months behind bars and a $200 fine for multiple 911 calls and leaving hospitals without seeking treatment
EMS clinicians should rely on their assessment and facts when assessing people with a suspected factitious disorder
A judge dismissed a lawsuit against Puyallup police and Central Pierce Fire & Rescue filed by a woman who was misdiagnosed with DUI but was later found to have suffered a massive stroke
These sources of start-up and long-term funding can help launch and provide economic sustainability for mobile integrated health care
The Legal Guardian answers a reader鈥檚 question about legal liability for his partner鈥檚 inaccurate and poorly written patient care narratives
Make no mistake, every EMS provider in every state has a duty to perform a full and complete assessment on every living patient
A complete narrative in the patient care report that is reviewed and signed by the patient is your best protection against liability for the non-transport decision
A former sheriff and a volunteer firefighter created a bill that makes harassing first responders engaged in their lawful duty a first-degree misdemeanor
The lawsuit alleges EMS workers left without helping a man who had called for emergency aid 鈥� only for his son to find him dead the next day
Records show the chief performed intubation and administered IVs, while unlicensed, while his son conducted CPR and ventilation without a valid EMT license
The founders of the Women in Emergency Services association discuss their mission
What first responders can learn about fatigue management from the U.S. Army鈥檚 doctrine on readiness
鈥淭here has never been a more crucial time to have a wingmate in EMS 鈥� a wingmate to watch your six and guide each other through the storm鈥�
A Baton Rouge paramedic pleaded guilty to falsely posing as a doctor to call in prescriptions, facing up to five years in prison and hefty fines
A fatal explosion at a Troy medical facility鈥檚 hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber claimed the life of a five-year-old boy and injured his mother
A new policy aims to curb sexual harassment claims, including a $350K settlement to former 鈥淛ersey Shore鈥� star and EMT Angelina Pivarnick over alleged misconduct
Former Bellingham firefighters alleged that a 2021 vaccine mandate violated their rights and caused emotional distress through a 鈥渟corched-earth鈥� enforcement policy
Field supervisors need to ensure EMS personnel follow infection control guidelines and ambulance decontamination processes
Eve Grau, co-founder of Royal Ambulance, a Glassdoor Employee鈥檚 Choice winner, shares the moments that matter, and how to recognize performance
On his first day, President Trump ordered federal agencies to end all 鈥渆quity-related鈥� grants and contracts, later mandating contractors to certify they don鈥檛 promote DEI
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is seeking the dissolution of the Dillsboro Emergency Ambulance Unit due to declining responses
A judge sentenced the driver to seven years after he pleaded guilty to the wrong-way crash that killed off-duty Independence Firefighter/Paramedic Harold 鈥淕ene鈥� Eddins
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