[RoxanRN2003]

EMS joke......................

Until proven otherwise, all 'bystander' doctors are proctologists. Never turn your back on them.

[RoxanRN2003]

Originally Posted by ClaireMacl

Actually, a UK nurse was struck off because she drove past the scene of an accident in her uniform and someone at the scene wrote down her licence plate!

I would venture to guess things are very different depending on which side of the Big Pond you're on. To my knowledge, that has never happened in the US. The uniform preferred by 99% of employees these days is scrubs. Even the housekeepers wear them!

[firstaiddave907]

i have always been tought in my cpr class that fi you stopped you would bre procted under the goos sermitan act. but as a doctor oe nurse cant you be procted under mal pratice insurance so if you do stop adn help someone and your a lpn or an rn or a doctor. so im not sure if it would be good sermitan or emergency care doctorin.

[ClaireMacl]

Hi Roxan,

Yeah, I think it is different! On a different note to the topic, we had a debate with the hospital last year about the practicalities of ED nurses wearing scrubs and how it would be better for infection control etc only to be told we were going into traditional uniform "to fit in with the rest of the hospital"!

Originally Posted by RoxanRN2003

I would venture to guess things are very different depending on which side of the Big Pond you're on. To my knowledge, that has never happened in the US. The uniform preferred by 99% of employees these days is scrubs. Even the housekeepers wear them!

[vamedic4]

Originally Posted by ragingmomster

On another note, you could be in deep doo-doo if you stop to offer help and then hand off care to an EMT. If you take the patient (stop for a roadside assist), you stay with the patient to the ER, and hand over care to someone with a larger education than you. Please no flames, my hubby is an EMT and a great one, but as an RN with 4 years education and 15 years experience I can be held liable if something happens to the patient that I handed over to an EMT with 1 year of school no matter how much experience s/he has.

The key here isn't "larger education" but "specialized education"...and EMTs aren't just the band aid toting toddlers they're often thought to be. You would not be asked to hand off care to an EMT, but to a paramedic - who, in this case, is the emergency care expert. He is the eyes, ears and hands of the physician in the field. As for EMTs, in many instances they are highly trained and experienced, especially in areas such as airway management. While many are not trained to intubate, they can perform other procedures and/or maneuvers that are equally as effective. I'd rather an EMT bag my patient than most any other person.
The other thing is to stay within your scope of practice. The Good Sam Act only provides protection for those who do exactly that. If you, in good faith, execute care that falls within your scope of practice, you should be okay.

[SookeyRN]

What I remember from what little legal we had as seniors in undergrad, if you stop to give aid, you are expected to perform at at least minimal standards within your scope of practice. As long as you have done that, you cannot be held liable for any wrongdoing. This assumes you are a licensed practitioner and know your scope of practice.

[pinefarmgirl]

I remember something about handing off to a person with less cert. from my EMT days... If the EMS person is "lower ranking" than you, but is paid to be there, as in arriving with the ambulance, then the person paid to be there at the scene is IC, regardless of creds, because they are there officially. The scene becomes their responsibility on arrival. So even if an MD is there, he is to take orders from, or have his help accepted by, the EMT or paramedic in charge. An EMT in this situation can order an MD to stand down if they feel the doc is not doing the right thing.

Also, I will say that I feel I must stop in a case like this. If it was your child lying there, possibly dying, and you could not be there- and you knew that people just drove by who might have helped, because they did not want to get involved????????? I don't understand.....

[Havin' A Party!]

Originally Posted by MereSanity

Of course if you are driving by an accident and decide not to stop and help and someone recognizes you and says "oh that lady/man is a nurse and they didn't stop to help"...you can get sued for that also. So, I guess you just can't win.

Disagree with this. No legal requirement to stop and assist.

[Havin' A Party!]

Originally Posted by neneRN

Also, the Good Samaritan Act does not mean that you can't be sued; anybody can sue for just about anything. What it does mean is that if you give care reasonable under the circumstances, ACCORDING TO ACCEPTED STANDARDS, then you'll be protected under state law...

This seems correct to me.

[Havin' A Party!]

Originally Posted by JMBM

... "Good Samaritan"... In general, these laws say that any person who volunteers their help is immune from a claim that they negligently provided care...

Don't believe that is accurate.

There is an imposed requirement that the care provided be "reasonable," "prudent," or whatever standard is employed in the law.