Medical, legal and Ethical EMR

You arrive at the scene of an incident involving a motor vehicle and a pedestrian.  The paramedic unit is not there.  There is a 16 year old patient who is unconscious and bleeding from the head....

• begin immediate treatment and ask a law enforcement officer to attempt to contact the child's parents
• contact the child's parents first before rendering any care
• keep curious by standards away from the scene

You are dispatched to an elementary school for a 8 year old boy.  The child is conscious, alert, and does not appear to have any life-threatening injuries. What do you do?

• Begin treatment of the child
• Ask a teacher to contact the child's parents to obtain consent for you to begin treatment
• Allow the teacher to sign a patient refusal form because the child does not require treatment
• Send the child to the nurses office

You placed your name on the schedule to respond for a 12-hour shift.  With 10 minutes left, you are dispatched for a patient with a possible leg fracture.  What should you do?

• wait till  your relief arrives and let them respond
• respond only if it is convenient because your just a volunteer
• proceed to the scene
• wait for paramedics 

While arriving at a scene of an elderly person you decide not to start CPR because you think the person is already dead.  Paramedics arrive and determine that the patient has only been in cardiac arrest for 6 minutes...

• As as EMR, you did not have a legal duty to begin CPR
• The patient would most likely not be able to be resuscitated
• Your actions are consistent with the responsibilities of an EMR.
• You may be held liable for failure to follow the standard of care

While preforming CPR on an elderly man his wife states he has a terminal illness and does not want to be resuscitated.  She says he has a living will;however, she is unable to find it.  You should:

• honor the wife's wishes and stop all treatment
• assist the wife to look for the documents
• have the wife sign a release form and then stop CPR
• continue CPR and contact medical control for guidance

Which of the following components is NOT required to prove negligence?

• duty to act
• breech of duty
• resulting injuries
• patient refusal of care

Which of the following MOST accurately describes negligence?

• performance of care that does not meet the accepted standards
• desertion of a patient who is still in need of emergency treatment
• failure to respond to the scene of an emergency when dispatched
• performing skills that are beyond your level of EMS certification

Which of the following is NOT considered an advanced directive?

• living will
• durable power of attorney for health care
• do not resuscitate (DNR) order
• standard of care

Patients may NOT refuse treatment at any time, even if the treatment has begun

• True
• False
• False, patients can refuse treatment even if the treatment has begun

When functioning at a crime scene, the EMR should try to move furniture and mess up the crime scene 

• True
• False, they should avoid moving furniture unless it interferes with patient care