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45 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Legal responsibility.
Liability
Law based on the U.S. Constitution.
Constitutional law
Law that is derived from society's acceptance of customs and norms over time. Also called case law or judge-made law.
Common law
Law created by law-making bodies such as Congress and state assemblies. Also called statutory law.
Legislative law
Law that is enacted by governmental agencies at either the federal or state level. Also called regulatory law.
Administrative law
Division of the legal system that deals with wrongs committed against society or its members.
Criminal law
The division of the legal system that deals with noncriminal issues and conflicts between two or more parties.
Civil law
A civil wrong committed by one individual against another.
Tort
Components of a Civil Lawsuit
- Incident
- Investigation
- Filing of complaint
- Answering of complaint
- Discovery
- Trial
- Decision
- Appeal
- Settlement
Range of duties and skills paramedics are allowed and expected to perform.
Scope of practice
Commonly Mandated Reports
- Spouse abuse
- Child abuse and neglect
- Elder abuse
- Sexual assault
- Gunshot and stab wounds
- Animal bites
- Communicable diseases
Exemption from legal liability.
Immunity
Laws that provide immunity to certain people who assist at the scene of a medical emergency.
Good Samaritan laws
Deviation form accepted standards of care recognized by law for the protection of others against the unreasonable risk of harm.
Negligence
The Four Elements of Negligence
- Duty to act
- Breach of that duty
- Actual damages
- Proximate cause
A formal contractual or informal legal obligation to provide care.
Duty to act
An action or inaction that violates the standard of care expected form a paramedic.
Breach of duty
The degree of care,skill, and judgment that would be expected under like or similar circumstances by a similarly trained, reasonable paramedic in the same community.
Standard of care
A breach of duty by performance of a wrongful or unlawful act.
Malfeasance
A breach of duty by performance of a legal act in a manner that is harmful or injurious.
Misfeasance
A breach of duty by failure to perform a required act or duty.
Nonfeasance
A legal doctrine invoked by plaintiffs to support a claim of negligence; it is a Latin term that means "the thing speaks for itself."
Res ipsa loquitur
Refers to compensable physical , psychological, or financial harm.
Actual damages
Action or inaction of the paramedic that immediately caused or worsened the damage suffered by the patient.
Proximate cause
The principle of law that prohibits the release of medical or other personal information about a patient without the patient's consent.
Confidentiality
An intentional false communication that injures another person's reputation or good name.
Defamation
The act of injuring a person's character, name, or reputation by false statements made in writing or through the mass media with malicious intent or reckless disregard for the falsity of those statements.
Libel
Act of injuring a person's character, name, or reputation by false or malicious statements spoken with malicious intent or reckless disregard for the falsity of those statements.
Slander
The patient's granting of permission for treatment.
Consent
Able to make an informed decision about medical care.
Competent
Consent for treatment that is given based on full disclosure of information.
Informed consent
Verbal, nonverbal, or written communication by a patient that he wishes to receiver medical care.
Expressed consent
Consent for treatment that is presumed for a patient who is mentally, physically, or emotionally unable to grant consent. Also called emergency doctrine.
Implied consent
Consent to treatment granted by the authority of a court order.
Involuntary consent
Depending on state law, this is usually a person under the age of 18.
Minor
A person under 18 years of age who is married, pregnant, a parent, a member of the armed forces, or financially independent and living away from home.
Emancipated minor
Termination of the paramedic-patient relationship without assurance that an equal or greater level of care will continue.
Abandonment
An act that unlawfully places a person in apprehension of immediate bodily harm without his consent.
Assault
The unlawful touching of another individual without his consent.
Battery
Intentional and unjustifiable detention of a person without his consent or other legal authority.
False imprisonment
The minimal amount of force necessary to ensure that an unruly or violent person does not cause injury to himself or others.
Reasonable force
A document created to ensure that certain treatment choices are honored when a patient is unconscious or otherwise unable to express his choice of treatment.
Advance directive
Advance Directives
- Living wills
- Durable power of attorney for health care
- DNR orders
- Organ donor cards (such as found on a driver's license)
A legal document that allows a person to specify the kinds of medical treatment he wishes to receive should the need arise.
Living will
Legal document, usually signed by the patient and is physician, that indicates to medical personnel which, if any, life-sustaining measures should be taken when the patient's heart and respiratory functions have ceased.
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order