EMT Medical Legal Issues

1. The EMT understands the standard of care when he states:
A) "The standard of care is a document that outlines the curriculum for all EMT programs in the United States."
B) "The standard of care is state law that requires the EMT to respond and render care in certain situations."
C) "The standard of care is a measure of whether the right assessment and care have been competently provided to the patient."
D) "The standard of care is state law that describes what actions the EMT can and cannot legally perform."

2. You have arrived on the scene for an unresponsive female patient. As you make your way to the patient's side, a family member hands you an official signed and properly notarized document that states that the patient does not want feeding tubes, ventilators, and other long-term life support equipment to keep her alive. There is no mention of whether to administer life-saving drugs or withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The EMT would recognize this document as:
A) Durable power of attorney.
B) Living will document.
C) Do Not Resuscitate order.
D) Implied consent.

3. You are pulling into the ambulance bay at a local hospital. On board you have a patient with behavioral problems who continually seeks treatment at this particular hospital. Before that patient can be unloaded, the physician comes out and states that the patient must be taken to another hospital. As an EMT you would:
A) Take the patient to the facility specified by the doctor.
B) Recognize a violation of the EMTALA statute.
C) Call the supervisor to report a HIPAA violation.
D) Ask the patient what hospital he wants to be taken to.

4. For negligence to be proven, which of the following must be present?
A) Assault, breach of duty, damage
B) Duty to act, injury, proximate cause
C) Duty to act, breach of duty, battery
D) Harm to the patient, false imprisonment, duty to act

5. The EMT recognizes that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) limits the EMT's ability to:
A) Transport a patient to a hospital of his or her choice.
B) Bill for services provided by the Emergency Medical Services.
C) Obtain refusals on patients who do not have medical insurance.
D) Discuss medical information regarding the patient.

6. A patient's spouse, who is a doctor, states that an EMT is negligent because he put his wife on low-concentration oxygen when she should have gotten high concentration. The patient was having chest pain that was later determined to be caused by anxiety. She was released from the Emergency Department later in the day. Which of the following is true?
A) Negligence can be proven because the protocol states high-concentration oxygen should be given.
B) Negligence is a distinct possibility since the patient was transported and treated in the emergency department.
C) Negligence cannot be proven since the EMT responded to the call and did render care.
D) The EMT cannot be proven negligent because that patient suffered no harm.

7. A competent adult patient with chest pain has just refused treatment. Which of the following indicates the proper response by the EMT?
A) "I am sorry, but since 911 was called, we must transport you to the hospital. You can refuse treatment there."
B) "Before you refuse, I need to tell you that this could be a heart attack and you could die."
C) "I will need to have you sign this refusal form and a family member sign as a witness."
D) "Since you are competent and rationale, it is your right to refuse. Please sign this refusal form."

8. You have been dispatched to a park for a 10-year-old boy who has fallen from a slide. His right wrist is deformed and he is in pain. He states that he lives with his mother and she is working. He does not know her work number. The EMT's best action would be:
A) Do not treat the patient until his mother gives permission.
B) Treat the patient under the guidelines of implied consent.
C) Obtain permission from the park director.
D) Have the police take custody of the boy and give permission to treat.