Ch. 3 Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues Vocabulary Flashcards
Abandonment
Unilateral termination fo care by the EMT without the patient’s consent and without making provisions for transferring care to another medical professional with the skills and training necessary to meet the needs of the patient.
Advance directive
Written documentation that specifies medical treatment for a competent patient should the patient become unable to make decisions; also called a living will or health care directive.
Algor mortis
Cooling of the body after death until it matches the ambient temperature of the environment.
Applied ethics
The manner in which principles of ethics are incorporated into professional conduct.
Assault
Unlawfully placing a patient in fear of bodily harm.
Battery
Unlawfully touching a patient or providing emergency care without consent.
Bioethics
The study of ethics related to issues that arise in healthcare.
Breach of confidentiality
Disclosure of information without proper authorization.
Certification
Compensatory damages
Damages awarded in a civil lawsuit that are intended to restore the plaintiff to the same condition that he or she was in prior to the incident.
Competent
Able to make rational decisions about personal well-being.
Consent
Permission to render care.
Contributory negligence
A legal defense that may be raised whein the defendant thinks that the conduct of the paintiff somehow contributed to any injuries or damages that were sustained by the plaintiff.
Decision-making capacity
Ability to understand and process information and make a choice regarding appropriate medical care.
Defamation
The communication of false information about a person that is damaging to that person’s reputationor standing in the community.
Dependent lividity
Blood settling to the lowest point of the body, causing discoloration of the skin; a definitive sign of death.
Depositions
Oral questions asked of parties and witnesses under oath.
Discovery
The phase of a civil lawsuit wher the plaintiff and defense obtain information from each other that will enable the attorneys to have a better understanding of the case and wich will assist in negotiating a possible settlement or in preparing for trial. Discovery includes depositions, interrogatories, and demands for production of records.
Do not resuscutate (DNR) order
Written documentation by a physician giving permission to medical personnel to not attempt rescuscitation in the event of cardiac arrest.
Durable power of attorney for health care
A type of advance directive executed by a competent adult that appoints another individual to make medical treatment decisions on his or her behalf, in the event that the person making the appointment loses decision-making capacity.
Duty to act
A medicolegal term relating to certain personnel who wither by stature or by function have a responsibility to provide care.
Emancipated minor
A person who is under the legal age in a given state but, because of other circumstances, is legally concidered an adult.
Emergency
A serious situation, such as injury or illness that threatens the life or welfare of a person or group of peopleand requires immediate intervention.
Emergency doctrine
The principle of law that permits a health care provider to treat a patient in an emergency situation when the pt is incapable of granting concent becuase of an altered level of consciousness, disability, the effects of drugs or alcohol, or the patient’s age.
Emergency medical care
Immediate care or treatment.
Ethics
The philosophy of right or wrong, of moral duties, and of ideal professional behavior.
Expressed consent
A type of consent in which a patient gives verbal or nonverbal authorization for provision of care or transport.
False imprisonment
The confinement of a person without legal authority or the person’s consent.
Forcible restraint
The act of physically preventing an individual from initiating any physical action.
Good Samaritan laws
Statutory provisions enacted by many states to protect citizens from liability for errors and omissions in giving good fainth emergency medical care, unless there is wanton, gross, or willful negligence.
Governmental immunity
Legal doctrine that can protect an EMS provider from being sued or that may limit the amount of the monetary judgement that the plaintiff may recover; generally applies only to EMs systems that are operated by municipalities or other governmental entities.
Gross negligence
Conduct that constitutes a willful or reckless disregard for a duty or standard of care.
Health care directive
A written document that specifies medical treatment for a competent patient, should he or she become unable to make decisions. Also known as an advance directive or living will.
Health care proxy
A type of advance directive executed by a competent adult that appoints another indidvidual to make medical treatment decisions on his or her behalf in the event that the person making the appointment loses decision-making capacity. Also known as durable power of attorney for healthcare.
Implied consent
A type of consent in which a patient who is unable to give consent is given treatment under the legal assumption that he or she would want treatment.
Informed consent
Permission for treatment given gy a competent patient after the potential risks, benefits, and alternatives to treatment have been explained.
In loco parentis
Refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent.
Interrogotories
Written questions that the defense and plaintiff send to one another.
Kidnapping
The seizing, confining, abducting, or carrying away of a person by force, including transporting a competent adult for medical treatment without his or her consent.
Libel
False and damaging information about a person that is communicated in writing.
Medicolegal
A term relating to medical jurisprudence (law) or forensic medicine.
Morality
A code of conduct that can be defined by society, religion, or a person, affecting character, concuct, and conscience.
Negligence
Failure to provide the same care a person with similar training would provide.
Negligence per se
A theory that may be used when the conduct of a person being sued is alleged to have occured in clear violation of a statute.
Patient autonomy
The right of a patient to make informed choices regarding his or her own health.
Protected health information (PHI)
Any information about the health status, provision of health care, or payment for health care that can be linked to an individual. This can be interpreted rather broadly and includes any part of a patinet’s medical record or payment history.
Proximate causation
When a person who has a duty auses it, and causes harm to another individual, the EMT, the agency, and/or the medical director may be sued for negligence.
Punitive damages
Damages that are sometimes awarded in a civil lawsuit when the conduct of the defendant was intentional or constituted a reckless disregard for the safety of the public.
Putrefaction
Decomposition of body tissues; a definitive sign of death.
Res ipsa loquitur
When the EMT or an EMS system is held liable even when the plaintiff is unable to clearly demonstrate how an injury occured.
Rigor mortis
Stiffening of the body muscles; a definitive sign of death.
Scope of practice
Most commonly devined by state law; outlines the care that the EMT is able to provide for the patient.
Slander
False and damaging information about a person that is communicated by the spoken word.
Standard of care
Written, accepted levels of emergency care expected by reason of training and profession; written by legal or professional organizations so that the patients are not exposed to unreasonable risk or harm.
Statute of limitations
The time within which a case must be commenced.
Torts
Wrongful acts that give rise to a civil lawsuit.
