Chapter 3 Medical, Legal, And Ethical Issues

Question 1

Emergency Medical Care

Answer 1

Immediate care or treatment

Question 2

Consent

Answer 2

Permission to render care

Question 3

Decision Making Capacity

Answer 3

Ability to understand and process information and make a choice regarding appropriate medical care

Question 4

Patient Autonomy

Answer 4

The right of a patient to make informed choices regarding his or her health care

Question 5

Expressed Consent

Answer 5

A type of consent in which a patient give verbal or nonverbal authorization for provision of care or transport

Question 6

Informed Consent

Answer 6

Permission for treatment given by a competent patient after the potential risks, benefits, an alternatives to treatment have been explained

Question 7

Implied Consent

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Emergency Doctrine

Answer 8

The principle of law that permits a health care provider to treat a patient in an emergency situation when the patient is incapable of granting consent because of an altered level of consciousness, disability, the effects of drugs or alcohol, or the patients age

Question 9

Medicolegal

Answer 9

A term relating to medical jurisprudence (law) or forensic medicine

Question 10

Emancipated Minors

Answer 10

A person who is under the legal age in a given state but, because of other circumstances, is legally considered an adult

Question 11

in loco parentis

Answer 11

refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent

Question 12

Forcible Restraint

Answer 12

The act of physically preventing an individual from initiating any physical action

Question 13

Breach of Confidentiality

Answer 13

Disclosure of information without proper authorization

Question 14

Protected Health Information (PHI)

Answer 14

Any information about health status, provision of health care, or payment for health care that can be linked to an individual. This is interpreted rather broadly and includes any part of a patient’s medical record or payment history

Question 15

Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order

Answer 15

Written documentation by a physician giving permission to medical personnel not to attempt resuscitation in the event of cardiac arrest

Question 16

Competent

Answer 16

Able to make rational decisions about personal well being

Question 17

Advance Directive

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Health Care Directive

Answer 18

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 a living will

Question 19

Durable Powers of Attorney For Health Care

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Health Care Proxies

Answer 20

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. Also known as a durable power of attorney for health care

Question 21

Dependent Lividity

Answer 21

Blood settling to the lowest point of the body, causing discoloration of the skin; a definitive sign of death

Question 22

Rigor Mortis

Answer 22

Stiffening of the body muscles; a definitive sign of death

Question 23

Putrefaction

Answer 23

Decomposition of body tissue; a definitive sign of death

Question 24

Scope of Practice

Answer 24

Most commonly defined by state of law; outlines the care that the EMT is able to provide for the patient

Question 25

Standard of Care

Answer 25

Written, accepted levels of emergency care expected by reason of training and profession; written by legal or professional organizations so that patients are not exposed to unreasonable risk or harm

Question 26

Emergency

Answer 26

A serious situation, such as injury or illness that threatens the life or welfare of a person or group of people and requires immediate intervention

Question 27

Certification

Answer 27

A process in which a person, an institution, or a program is evaluated and recognized as meeting certain predetermined standards to provide safe and ethical patient care

Question 28

Licensure

Answer 28

The process whereby a competent authority, usually the state, allows people to perform a regulated act

Question 29

Credentialing

Answer 29

An established process to determine the qualification necessary to be allowed to practice a particular profession, or to function as an organization

Question 30

Duty to Act

Answer 30

A medicolegal term relation to certain personnel who either by statute or by function have a responsibility to provide care

Question 31

Negligence

Answer 31

Failure to provide the same care that a person with similar training would provide

Question 32

Proximate Causation

Answer 32

When a person who has a duty abuses it, and causes harm to another individual, the EMT, the agency, and/or the medical director may be sued for negligence

Question 33

res ipsa loquitor

Answer 33

Where the EMT or the EMS system is held liable even when the plaintiff is unable to clearly demonstrate how the injury occurred

Question 34

negligence per se

Answer 34

A theory that may be used when the conduct of the person being sued is alleged to have occurred in clear violation of the statute

Question 35

Torts

Answer 35

A wrongful act that gives rise to a civil lawsuit

Question 36

Abandonment

Answer 36

Unilateral termination of carer 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

Question 37

Assault

Answer 37

Unlawfully placing a patent in fear of bodily harm

Question 38

Battery

Answer 38

Unlawfully touching a patient or providing emergency care without consent

Question 39

Kidnapping

Answer 39

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

Question 40

False Imprisonment

Answer 40

The confinement of a person without legal authority or the person’s consent

Question 41

Defamation

Answer 41

The communication of false information about a person that is damaging to that person’s reputation or standing in the community

Question 42

Libel

Answer 42

False and damaging information about a person that is communicated in writing

Question 43

Slander

Answer 43

False and damaging information about a person that is communicated by the spoken word

Question 44

Good Samaritan Laws

Answer 44

Statutory provisions enacted by many states to protect the citizens form liability for errors and omissions in giving good faith emergency medical care, unless there is wanton, gross, or willful negligence

Question 45

Gross Negligence

Answer 45

Conduct that constitutes a willful or reckless disregard for a duty or standard of care

Question 46

Ethics

Answer 46

The philosophy of right and wrong, of moral duties, and of ideal professional behavior

Question 47

Morality

Answer 47

A code of conduct that can be defined by society, religion, or a person, affecting character, conduct and conscience

Question 48

Bioethics

Answer 48

The study of ethics related to issues that arise in health care

Question 49

Applied Ethics

Answer 49

The manner in which principles of ethics are incorporated into professional conduct Statue of Limitations: The time within which a case can be commenced

Question 50

Governmental Immunity

Answer 50

Legal doctrine that can protect any EMS provider from being sued or which may limit the amount of the monetary judgment that the plaintiff may recover; generally applies only to EMS systems that are operated by municipalities or other governmental entities

Question 51

Contributory Negligence

Answer 51

A legal defense that may be raised when the defendant feels that the conduct of the plaintiff somehow contributed to any injuries or damages that were sustained by the plaintiff

Question 52

Discovery

Answer 52

The phase of a civil lawsuit where the plaintiff and the defense obtain information from each other that will enable the attorneys to have a better understanding of the case and which will assist in negotiation a possible settlement or in preparing for trial. Discovery includes depositions, interrogatories, and ends for production of records

Question 53

Interrogatories

Answer 53

Written questions that the defense and plaintiff send to each other

Question 54

Depositions

Answer 54

Oral questions asked of parties and witnesses under oath

Question 55

Compensatory Damages

Answer 55

Damages awarded in a civil lawsuit that are intended to resolve the plaintiff to the same condition that he or she was in prior to the incident

Question 56

Punitive Damages

Answer 56

Damages that are sometimes awarded in civil lawsuit when the conduct of the defendant was intentional or constituted a reckless disregard for the safety of the public