Lehigh man may sue after being forced to ride ambulance
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. – A Lehigh Acres man says he was forced to take an ambulance ride to the hospital. Now he’s stuck with the bill he doesn’t think he should have to pay.
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“I never called for it,” Rothwell said. “then, I was forced to go for this ride. It was either go, or you’re going to be handcuffed and we’re going to take you.”
Read the entire article and keep in mind that we probably don’t know all of the facts. For instance, there is no mention of his mental status. If he was unable to make a competent, informed, decision then it was likely the right thing to do to transport him for further evaluation. These are not easy calls to handle. If the patient is allowed to refuse transport and then something bad happens, a law suit is likely. If the patient IS competent to make the decision and is still forced to go to the hospital, litigation is still likely, although less so. It’s usually a question of which course of action has more risk to the patient and thus more risk to the EMS personnel.
The keys to successfully handling these calls are careful examination and very careful and complete documentation.
In this case we have no way of knowing what the exam revealed or what risk the patient did or didn’t face. As such it’s impossible to know if the paramedics made the correct decision here.
Chief Don Adams tells WINK: “Paramedics have to decide what’s in the patient’s best interest and transport based on physical condition… especially if patients are not in the right frame of mind to make that decision.” He supports the paramedic’s actions.
The chief is only partially correct. It is the patient’s decision what is in their best interest as long as they have the mental capacity to make an informed decision. If the patient does not have the mental capacity to make an informed decision, then the paramedics can substitute their judgment for the patients. If they do that, then they have to carefully document what they based their decision on. Spending a few extra minutes doing a good job documenting will save hours of incident reports and depositions later on defending your actions.
At least I hope that’s what the fire commission and chief are basing their decisions on.
I would agree – documentation is the key! A wise man once told me; “if it’s not written down it did not take place.” Based on what I read in the article it’s hard to determine if the man was able to make an informed decision or not.
Hopefully, the EMT involved documented every question ask of the patient and his response and ask many questions. The patient’s mental status is key in this case and will have to be proven , now, to individuals who were not present at the time it happened. That this man has decided to use the media to begin to plea his case raises flags. He is looking for someone to offer free service in court in exchange for the media attention/ free advertisement. Someone more sure of themselves and their case might have first allowed the judicial system to do it’s job. If it turns out that he is the losing party in the case, who will then be expected to repair the damage he has done to the reputation of the service/agency he is speaking so negatively of ? ( That question is actually more of a statement than one that might be posted with the expectation of an answer)
Meh… we had one refuse transport from an accident scene, 4 hours later we responded to her home to haul the body…