SIDE BAR SCENARIOS

Side Bar Considering Malpractice
Consider this example of a medical malpractice action: Two EMTs are called to transport an elderly male from a nursing home to the local hospital. They arrive at the scene and observe that the patient is morbidly obese and has a BiPAP in place. The patient is in respiratory distress. The EMTs place an O2 saturation detector on the mans finger and see that his O2 saturation is only 84 percent. The patient is moved to a stretcher, and the EMTs attempt to intubate him after administering a paralytic through IV tubing that was placed by the nursing home staff. One of the EMTs misses the first intubation and must ventilate the patient for 2 to 3 minutes with a bag-valve mask. Both EMTs reattempt the intubation two more times, and on the third try, using an endotracheal tube with a lit stylet, they believe that they are in the trachea but fail to confirm placement of the tube following local protocol. The transport time is 15 more minutes. At the time of arrival at the emergency room (ER), the ER physician discovers the tube placement is in the esophagus, so he reintubates the patient, who immediately goes into cardiac arrest and dies.
Review the following two Side Bar scenarios in your textbook and choose one for the basis of your assignment:
Considering Malpractice (p. 7) or
EMT Response and Motor Vehicle Law (p. 13).
NOTE: You will continue to use this same scenario in Unit III and IV as the basis for a course project that concludes in Unit VII.
For this assignment, pretend you are the aide for a defense attorney representing the EMS agency in the selected case. You will need to analyze the scenario and prepare a brief for the attorney on your findings. (If you choose the second case, the subject in the scenario should not be taken in the first-person context, but rather just as an EMT provider.)
Consider the scenario as if the organization you are representing were in your own state and focus on the relevance of your states laws to the scenario. You may consider locating a past similar case to help guide your briefing.
Your paper at a minimum should address the following questions:
Is this a case that would most likely be tried in a civil or criminal court? Why?
What are three questions that you feel must be answered by the personnel involved before you can begin to prepare a defense?
Identify the difference in scope and responsibility of any federal, state, or local laws and regulations that would impact the outcome of the case.
How would you demonstrate that the personnel involved were aware of these laws or regulations?