It just grew

I'm alone at No. 3 today. Everyone else is celebrating a day off in celebration of the accomplishments of an Italian navigator working for Spanish royalty who missed his target by 12,000 miles.

The instructor of my son's paramedic class has asked me to do the usual "legal issues" lecture for them Wednesday night. Not a big deal - I bet I've done it 50+ times in the last 30 years. The text they are using (aside: I had a deal to write the legal issues chapter of Harvey Grant's next textbook. Harvey was the "father" of EMS instruction. The deal fell through owing to Harvey's death.) has with it a slide show or PowerPoint or some damn thing like that on a CD, and I'll use it as the basic skeleton for the class. But I like paper, and so I started doing a little handout this morning, intending it to be 4 or 5 salient points. It just grew, and this is what I'll hand out:

Legal Exequatur for EMS

Know all persons by these presents:

That the Bearer has seen the following Truths, accepted them and thus does not need to learn them The Hard Way:

1 - To “do the right thing” means giving excellent patient care more than anything else. If you do the right thing, you don’t need to be afraid of the Law.

1a - But always remember that competent adults have the right to do stupid things.

2 - You do not “outrank” the patient. Always tell them what’s going on.

2a - But “don’t let your mouth write a check that your ass can’t cash.” (Quoting Larry Winget, It’s Called Work for a Reason. Great book. Read it.) Be truthful and realistic. “You’re going to be fine” to a dying patient is cruel.

2b - Cocky kills. [Explanation: I've had 5 friends killed on duty over the years, all due to someone getting cocky and doing something really stupid.]

3 - Your treatment can directly save a life. But you weren’t called there to set up a clinic and stay there. A successful call always ends in a transport.

3a - You don’t make up time lost moseying to the rig or screwing around on scene by using lights & siren on the road.

4 - Respect. Respect your patient. Respect your company. Respect your team. Respect the Fellowship. The Golden Rule isn’t just for other guys. [There's a sort of impromptu memorial at the WTC site in NY - where patches are posted from companies all over the world. Our company's patch is there. That's the Fellowship.]

4a - The patient can be drunk and obnoxious, but still need you.

5 - Paramedics can kill one patient at a time. Drivers can kill five people at a time. Remember Key Largo. [The Key Largo wreck killed five. When the first responders got there, they forced open a door of the wrecked ambulance and a couple of gallons of blood splashed out on their shoes and pants.]

6 - Be sure you are covered by insurance, and then concentrate on doing your job with excellence on every call. [WV had mandatory EMS insurance with immunity for verdicts over the insurance. I wrote that statute many years ago.]

7 - “Being fat, drunk and stupid is no way to spend your life.” (Quoting Dean Wormer, Animal House, 1978.)

8 - You do wonders for the average life span. You do nothing for the death rate. It’s still one to a customer. [I.e., shit happens.]

9 - The symbols for EMS are (1) the Star of Life and (2) the Cross Draped with Toilet Paper. We preserve life, and we ride with God to help Him clean up Man’s messes. Remember The Big Man.


With the Love and Respect of The Fellowship,
10 October 2007,