Chapter 4 - Medical/Legal and Ethical Issues

Question 1

The set of regulations and ethical considerations that define the scope, or extent and limits, of the EMT’s job is known as what?

Answer 1

Scope of Practice

Question 2

An EMT providing care for a specific patient in a specific situation, the care that would be expected to be provided by an EMT with similar training when caring for a patient in a similar situation is known as what?

Answer 2

Standard of Care

Question 3

What is the consent given by adults who are of legal age and mentally competent to make a rational decision in regard to their medical well-being?

Answer 3

Expressed Consent

Question 4

This is the consent that is presumed a patient or patient’s parent or guardian would give if they could, such as for an unconscious patient or a parent who cannot be contacted when care is needed.

Answer 4

Implied Consent

Question 5

The term used for someone in place of a parent, indicating a person who may give consent for care of a child when the parents are not present or able to give consent is what?

Answer 5

In Loco Parentis

Question 6

Being held legally responsible is known as what?

Answer 6

Liability

Question 7

What constitutes ‘Assault’?

Answer 7

Placing a person in fear of bodily harm.

Question 8

What constitutes ‘Battery’?

Answer 8

Causing bodily harm to or restraining a person.

Question 9

A legal document, usually signed by the patient and their physician, which states that the patient has a terminal illness and does not wish to prolong life through resuscitative efforts is what?

Answer 9

Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order

Question 10

A DNR order; instructions written in advance of an event.

Answer 10

Advance Directive

Question 11

Physician orders that state not only the patient’s wishes regarding resuscitation attempts but also the patient’s wishes of artificial feeding, antibiotics, and other life-sustaining care if the person is unable to state their desires later.

Answer 11

Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

Question 12

A finding of failure to act properly in a situation in which there was a duty to act, that needed care as would reasonably be expected of the EMT was not provided, and that harm was caused to the patient as a result.

Answer 12

Negligence

Question 13

A civil, not a criminal, offense; an action or injury caused by negligence from which a lawsuit may arise.

Answer 13

Tort

Question 14

A Latin term meaning “the thing speaks for itself.”

Answer 14

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Question 15

An obligation to provide care to a patient.

Answer 15

Duty to Act

Question 16

Leaving a patient after care has been initiated and before the patient has been transferred to someone with equal or greater medical training.

Answer 16

Abandonment

Question 17

Regarding personal standards or principles of right and wrong.

Answer 17

Moral

Question 18

Regarding a social system or social or professional expectations for applying principles of right and wrong.

Answer 18

Ethical

Question 19

A series of laws, varying in each state, designed to provide limited legal protection for citizens and some health care personnel when they are administering emergency care.

Answer 19

Good Samaritan Laws

Question 20

The obligation not to reveal information obtained about a patient except to other health care professionals involved in the patient’s care or under subpoena or in a court of law or when the patient has signed a release of confidentiality.

Answer 20

Confidentiality

Question 21

The act which includes the Privacy Rule protecting the privacy of patient-specific health care information and providing the patient with control over how this information is used and distributed.

Answer 21

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Question 22

False injurious information in written form.

Answer 22

Libel

Question 23

False injurious information stated verbally.

Answer 23

Slander

Question 24

A person who has completed a legal document that allows for donation of organs and tissues in the event of death.

Answer 24

Organ Donor

Question 25

A law that permits a person to drop off an infant or child at a police, fire or EMS station or to deliver the infant or child to any available public safety personnel. The intent of the law is to protect children who may otherwise be abandoned or harmed.

Answer 25

Safe Haven Law

Question 26

The location where a crime has been committed or any place that evidence relating to a crime may be found.

Answer 26

Crime Scene