Authorization For Emergency Medical Care: Fill & Download for Free

The laws pretty much everywhere have an “implied consent” statute that says if I'm unconscious or unable to communicate I give authorization for emergency medical care to save my life. A person's political, social, economic, and/or life style has no bearing at all.So bring your lawsuit, Mr. Liberatarian. It'll only be dismissed with prejudice by the first court that sees it.

One of the more annoying things we put up with on emergency scenes is bystanders who claim to be doctors, nurses, EMTs and paramedics. This tends to make us a little cynical when we hear a bystander or family member claim to be some sort of medical professional.Our treatment protocols allow for this under certain circumstances and even have a page dedicated to addressing the person offering to help. It’s known as the black page.Non-EMS System Medical Interveners:Thank you for your offer of assistance. Please be advised that these Emergency Medical Technicians are operating under the authority of the State of Maine and under protocols approved by the State of Maine. These EMS providers are also operating under the authority of a Medical Control physician and standing medical orders. If you are currently providing patient care, you will be relinquishing care to these EMS personnel and their Medical Control physician. No individual should intervene in the care of this patient unless the individual is:1. Requested by the attending EMT, and2. Authorized by the Medical Control physician, and3. Is capable of assisting, or delivering more extensive emergency medical care at the sceneIf you are the patient’s own physician, PA, or nurse practitioner, the EMTs will work with you to the extent that their protocols and scope of practice allow. If you are not the patient’s own physician, PA, or nurse practitioner, you must be a Maine licensed physician who will assume patient management and accept responsibility. These EMTs will assist you to the extent that their protocols and scope of practice allow. They will not assist you in specific deviations from their protocols without Medical Control approval. This requires that you accompany the patient to the hospital and that their Medical Control physician is contacted and concurs. The EMS provider s or medical control may request that you provide evidence that you are a Maine licensed physician: a copy of your pocket card, an identification issued by a Maine Hospital or healthcare agency, or confirmation of active license status through the Maine Board of Medicine or Nursing websiteSo, if the family member is a licensed physician in our state and our medical control doctor okays it, and the doctor is willing to accompany the patient to the hospital (likely since it’s a family member) and if the doctor doesn’t want us to deviate from our normal treatment without our medical control doc’s permission, then yes, we would gladly accept help.

As all of the other docs have said, it’s part of the job. There are a lot of diseases that don’t smell like roses. You get used to it. Never, ever, ever embarrass a patient about that or anything else. They are in a vulnerable position. They have to reveal sometimes uncomfortable information to someone that they perceive is in a position of authority. It’s not easy. I don’t make it harder.If a patient has a hygiene problem, this can be a big clue to the physician. Perhaps their poor self care is due to dementia or mental illness. That requires some gentle probing question about what’s really up.If an older person came in and it was evident that they were not remembering to bathe, perhaps they are not remembering to eat or takes their medications. Maybe they are no longer safe in their home. That is a big red flag that tells me that it’s time to call in the family and the social workers for further evaluation and some tough decisions.I don’t ever think ““You smell bad”. I think ““WHY do you smell bad?”I do have to admit that once, while I was placing a femoral line (its like an IV in the groin) for emergent dialysis, that the poor lady had lice that crawled out of her pubic hair and up my arm. I was so intent on getting the line placed that I didn’t notice until I had quite a few of them on me. When I looked down and saw them I let out a yip and jumped back. I just wasn’t expecting that. I still feel badly about it. I know I probably made her feel badly. She looked down at the floor and told me that she could only afford a place that was infested with lice. She just could not get rid of them. My heart just broke.Another time, I was seeing a very pleasantly demented man. As we talked, a bed bug crawled across his face. I stifled a shudder. He chatted on happily, seemingly unaware of it. I carefully removed the bug from his eye lid with a tissue. Another appeared from out of his hairline. A quick exam revealed that he was crawling with them. We had to take action to have his apartment and our office treated for bed bugs.Bottom line, it’s not about me. Nobody wants to smell or have bugs. Sometimes that is simply how it is. We do the best we can. I’m here to help. That’s my job.