Our conference takes place April 25-30, 2022. Register here.
EMS agencies and their providers are in the risk prevention and mitigation business designed to prevent and resolve medical and rescue situations that harm the general public we are bound to protect. Less attention is paid to internal risk management addressing our EMS staff and other critical internal issues related to a well-functioning and efficient EMS or fire operation.
There are too many examples of employees mistreating each other and violating their rights, including: assault and battery; rape; tampering with safety equipment; embezzlement; child pornography; theft; cyberstalking; and other examples of misconduct – and at times, criminal activities on- and off-duty. All of these issues are ripe for litigation.
In addition to the criminal activities, there are also career and reputation damaging events involving the misuse of social media, driving violations, and training accidents added to those issues requiring proactive management and enforceable policy, including codes of conduct to guide the behavior of employees both on- and off-duty.
JEMS Con 2022 Preview: Resuscitation Airway and Internal Dynamics
Elected officials, directors, managers, and providers are responsible for creating a safe place for your EMS employees, providers, and staff inside the station and on the emergency scene. This may incur protections off-duty as well. Understanding the means and methods to prevent these adverse legal processes is the basis of litigation prevention.
EMS agencies are also subject to medical malpractice litigation brought on by medical mistakes, including missed intubations, using the wrong medications or medications that have expired, practicing outside of their established protocols, patient abandonment, and other medical errors or misfeasance. Litigation prevention and managing risk is the cornerstone of a well-organized and managed department and is the responsibility of the leadership and the employees of the organization.
While medical malpractice is one factor, leadership must understand the largest litigation payouts affecting departments are based on Civil Rights violation claims. Your employees or patients can sue you and the department for violating their protected rights under the law found under the Constitution. These include: Title VII Civil Rights violations, sexual discrimination, religious discrimination, gender discrimination, or discrimination based on sexual identity, hostile workplace, harassment, sexual harassment, hazing, bullying, and stalking. One of the prevention methods to avoid litigation is that you provide up-to-date and enforceable policies, standard operating procedures (SOP), and standard operating guidelines (SOG), and train your employees annually with updates and scenarios based situations.
JEMS Con 2022 Preview: Modern EMS Recruitment and Retention
The patient also has rights under the law; for example, EMS providers may have violated their protected 4th Amendment rights preventing illegal use of excessive force in their treatment and at times restraint and transportation to a medical or jail facility.
In one recent example, a Columbus, Ohio, man who works as an EMT was charged for his violent contact with a restrained patient in an ambulance. The EMT is facing charges of official misconduct and misdemeanor battery. He is accused of grabbing the handcuffed patient’s hea