Assignment:
Assume that in response to a request for support from a neighboring state, your fire department decides to send one engine and a crew of four career firefighters/paramedics. You are not selected. One of your best friends who has been selected urges you to drive to the site of the call in the neighboring state in your own vehicle and hook up with the engine company when you get there.
From pre-EMAC and post-EMAC perspectives, describe what legal liability risks you are personally incurring when rendering medical assistance as an out-of-state paramedic who is "freelancing". If the incident commander allows you to participate in response, is he or she and/or your home municipality facing potential liability? Be sure to address each issue from both perspectives.
Case Study
The St. Louis Fire Department experienced a heavy drop in emergency vehicle accidents after issuing an SOP that requires "on the quiet" responses (no red lights or sirens) for incidents such as automatic alarms, smoke detectors, sprinkler alarms, manual pull stations, carbon monoxide detectors, and natural gas leaks. Many fire departments limit "hot" responses to alarm drops to the first due engine and, possibly, a battalion chief. Other departments will send an engine company to accompany an emergency medical services squad, but the engine company goes "on the quiet."
A couple of terrific studies of such policies in Anne Arundel County, MD, and Philadelphia, PA, are available via the U.S. Fire Administration's website.
Williams, A. S., Anne Arundel County Fire Department. (2005). Identifying issues when responding without lights and siren to selected call types for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Emmitsburg, MD: National Fire Academy.
Hargett, E. F., Philadelphia Fire Department. (2005). Preventing emergency vehicle accidents in the Philadelphia Fire Department. Emmitsburg, MD: National Fire Academy.
Describe what fire departments have done in your particular state to develop a similar SOP that addresses emergency response on certain runs.
Your response should be at least 300 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response.
All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.
Attachment:- Reference.rar