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45 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Liability
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Legal responsibility
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Constitutional Law
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Law based on the U.S. Constitution
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Common Law
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Law that is derived from society's acceptance of customs and norms over time. Also called case law or judge-made law.
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Legislative law
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Law created by lawmaking bodies such as Congress and state assemblies. Also called statutory law
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Administrative law
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Law that is enacted by governmental agencies at either the federal or state level. Also called regulatory law
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Criminal law
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Division of the legal system that deals with wrongs committed against society or its members
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Civil law
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Division of the legal system that deals with noncriminal issues and conflicts between two or more parties
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Tort law
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Division of the legal system that deals with civil wrongs committed by one individual against another
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Components of a Civil lawsuit
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Incident - Investigation - Filing of complaint - Answering of complaint - Discovery - Trial - Decision - Appeal - Settlement
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Scope or Practice
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Range of duties and skills paramedics are allowed and expected to perform
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Commonly Mandated Reports
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1. Abuse (Spouse, child or elder)
2. Sexual assault 3. Gunshot and stab wounds 4. Animal bites 5. Communicable diseases |
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Legal Immunity
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Exemption from legal liability
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Good Samaritan laws
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Laws that provide immunity to certain people who assist at the scene of a medical emergency
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Negligence
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Deviation from accepted standards of care recognized by law for the protection of others against the unreasonable risk of harm
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The 4 Elements of Negligence
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1. Duty to act
2. Breach of that duty 3. Actual damages 4. Proximate cause |
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Duty to act
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A formal contractual or informal legal obligation to provide care
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Breach of duty
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An action or inaction that violates the standard of care expected from a paramedic
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Standard of care
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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
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Malfeasance
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A breach of duty by performance of a wrongful or unlawful act
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Misfeasance
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A breach of duty by performance of a legal act in a manner that is harmful or injurious
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Nonfeasance
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A breach of duty by failure to perform a required act or duty
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Res Ipsa Loquitur
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A legal doctrine invoked by plaintiffs to support a claim of negligence; it is a Latin term that means "the thing speaks for itself."
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Actual damages
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Refers to compensable physical, psychological, or financial harm.
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Proximate cause
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Action or inaction of the paramedic that immediately caused or worsened the damage suffered by the patient
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Special Liability Concerns
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1. Medical direction
2. Borrowed Servant Doctrine 3. Civil Rights 4. Off-Duty Paramedics |
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Confidentiality
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The principle of law that prohibits the release of medical or other personal information about a patient without the patient's consent.
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Defamation
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An intentional false communication that injures another person's reputation or good name.
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Libel
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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.
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Slander
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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.
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Consent
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The patient's granting of permission for treatment
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Competent
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Able to make an informed decision about medical care
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Informed consent
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Consent for treatment that is given based on full disclosure of information
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Expressed consent
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Verbal, nonverbal, or written communication by a patient that he wishes to receive medical care.
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Implied consent
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Consent for treatment that is presumed for a patient who is mentally, physically, or emotionally unable to grant consent. Also called emergency doctrine.
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Involuntary consent
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Consent to treatment granted by the authority of a court order
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Minor
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Depending on state law, this is usualy a person under the age of 18.
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Emancipated minor
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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.
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Abandonment
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Termination of the paramedic-patient relationship without assurance that an equal or greater level of care will continue.
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Assault
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An act that unlawfully places a person in apprehension of immediate bodily harm without his consent.
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Battery
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The unlawful touching of another individual without his/her consent.
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False Imprisonment
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Intentional and unjustifiable detention of a person without his/her consent or other legal authority.
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Reasonable force
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The minimal amount of force necessary to ensure that an unruly or violent person does not cause injury to himself or others.
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Advance directive
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A document created to ensure that certain treatment choices are honored when a patient is unconscious or otherwise unable to express his choice of treatement.
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Living will
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A legal document that allows a person to specify the kinds of medical treatment he wishes to receive should the need arise.
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Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order
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Legal document, usually signed by the patient and his 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.
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