Ch. 3 "Medical, Legal and Ethical issues". Key terms-definitions

                                      

• scope of practice: EMT's are legally allowed to perform by the state in which they are providing emergency medical care.
• standard of care: The care that is expected to be provided by an EMT.
• duty to act: EMT's legal obligation to provide service, weather you think the patient need an ambulance or not.
• Good Samaritan law: Protects a person that is not being paid for his services from liability for acts performed in good faith unless those acts constitute gross negligence.
• consent: a conscious patient has the right to refuse medical care so it is necessary to obtain consent before providing care.
• implied consent: Occurs when you assume that the patient is unconscious in unable to make a rational decision.
• informed consent: Before treatment the patient must be informed of the care being provided and possible risks.
• minor consent: Must be obtained by a parent or guardian, or others who have been granted rights to make a decision on the minors behave be for treatment. implied consent can be used.
• involuntary consent: can be implied when you are dealing with a mentally incompetent patient.Or with an patient who is in custody of law enforcement or is incarcerated.
• expressed consent: Must be obtained by every conscious, mentally competent adult before treatment is started.
• do not resuscitate (DNR) order: is a legal document or order that most often governs resuscitation issues only.
• durable power of attorney: also known as health care proxy, designates a person who is legally empowered to make health decisions for the signer of the document if can't do it for himself.
• living will: is more often used to cover general health issues, including life support.
• advance directive: Instructions written in advance against resuscitation, signed by the patient.
• physician orders for life-sustaining treatment (POLST): are used in patients with serious or terminally ill who are not expected to survive longer than a year. It is geared to make the decision to resuscitate or not to resuscitate a patient.
• tort: A civil action if the EMT/defendant is accused of wrongful act, injury or damage.
• intentional tort: is an action knowingly committed by an individual that is considered to be civilly wrong according to the law
• abandonment: If you stop treatment with out transferring the care to another competent professional of equal or higher level training and certification or licensure.
• negligence: deviation of standard care.
• proximate cause: If accused of tort it must be determined that the injuries suffered by the patient were the direct result of the EMT"s negligence.
• assault: is a willful threat to inflict harm on a patient.
• battery: is the act of touching a patient unlawfully without his consent.
• defamation: If you release information to the public in either writing or spoken word.
• false imprisonment: results from from intentionally a competent patient without his consent.
• slander: is the spoken word of defamation.
• libel: is putting false information in written form or via mass media.
• Consolidated Omnibus Budget: Active Labor Act(EMTALA): are federal regulations that insure the public's access to emergency care regardless of the ability to pay. also known as "anti-patient-dumping statute". if a patient is turned away at the door because of inability to pay.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act:of 1996 is a federal that protects the privacy of patient health care and gives the patient control over how the information is distributed.