Chief1C

Well.. It can have some benefits, being a former member of a volunteer organization. I'd equate it to being similar to a fraternity. Good and Bad, but a center core that holds things together and gets the job done.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_...tal_deportation Hospital Defends Actions By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, AP Hispanic Affairs Writer Laura Wides-munoz, Ap Hispanic Affairs Writer – Thu Jul 23, 7:24 pm ET STUART, Fla. – A jury began deliberations Thursday in the case of a South Florida hospital that quietly chartered a plane and sent a seriously brain injured illegal immigrant back to Guatemala over the objections of his family and legal guardian. Health care and immigration experts across the country are closely watching the lawsuit play out. Lawyers say it may be the first of its kind and underscores the dilemma facing hospitals with patients who require long-term care, are unable to pay and don't qualify for federal or state aid because of their immigration status. Why should Martin Memorial Medical Center have to pay for a lifetime of care "for injuries we didn't even cause?" hospital attorney Scott Machaud asked the six-member jury during closing arguments of the monthlong trial. He said the hospital saved the life of 37-year-old Luis Jimenez and provided the uninsured man with $1.5 million worth of care, only to be unfairly hit with a lawsuit. "Paging Alice in Wonderland, where up is down and down is up and no good deed goes unpunished," Machaud exclaimed. However, under federal law, Martin Memorial was required to care for Luis Jimenez until someone else would take him. Because of his immigration status, no one else would. But hospitals that receive Medicare reimbursements are required to provide emergency care to all patients and must provide an acceptable discharge plan once the patient is stabilized. The lawsuit seeks nearly $1 million to cover the estimated lifetime costs of his care in Guatemala, as well as damages for the hospital's alleged "false imprisonment" and punitive damages to discourage other medical centers from taking similar action. Jimenez was a Mayan Indian who was sending money home to his wife and young sons when a drunk driver plowed into a van he was riding in in 2000, leaving him a paraplegic with the mental capability of a fourth grader. Because of his brain injury, his cousin Montejo Gaspar was made his legal guardian. Jimenez spent nearly three years at Martin Memorial before the hospital, backed by a letter from the Guatemalan government, got a Florida judge to OK the transfer to a Guatemalan facility. Gaspar appealed. But without telling Jimenez's family — and the day after Gaspar filed an emergency request to stop the hospital's plan — the hospital put Jimenez on a $30,000 charter flight home in the early hours of July 10, 2003. Weeks later, Jimenez was released from the Guatemalan hospital and soon wound up in his aging mother's 1-room home in a remote mountain village. The case has raised the question of whether a hospital and a state court should be deciding whether to deport someone — a power long held by the federal government. In 2004, an appeals court ruled the lower court had overstepped its authority, and that the hospital did not have the right to return Jimenez to Guatemala. Before sending them to the jury room Thursday, Martin County Senior Judge James Midelis told jurors that the appeals court had already decided that Jimenez was "unlawfully detained and deprived of liberty." Midelis said the jury's task was to decide whether the hospital's actions were "unreasonable and unwarranted under the circumstances," and whether its actions had in turn caused Jimenez damage. Machaud said the hospital was simply following a judge's order at the time. But in his closing arguments earlier Thursday, a lawyer for Gaspar and Jimenez said the hospital decided to secretly send Jimenez back to Guatemala to halt what would have been a long and expensive appeals process. "The plan was designed once and for all to stop the meter from running, to stop the expenses ... to stop the case from going all the way up to the Supreme Court — because Luis Jimenez was gone," attorney Jack Hill told the packed courtroom in the sleepy South Florida town of Stuart, just north of the exclusive community of Palm Beach. The case could set precedent in Florida and possibly beyond. "Regardless of the decision, it will heighten the awareness of hospitals nationwide. The next time they debate shipping a patient overseas, they're going to have to do their homework because it's going to leave them open to a lot of legal challenges and questions," said Steve Larson, an assistant dean at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine and medical director of a nonprofit clinic for Latino immigrants. Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital & Healthcare Association, disagreed. She said hospitals may become even more wary about providing extended care to uninsured immigrants. Hospitals are already struggling under the staggering costs of treating the nation's roughly 47 million uninsured. Illegal immigrants make up an estimated 15 percent of this group, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Jimenez's guardian initially supported sending Jimenez back to Guatemala, but became concerned after it became unclear just where he would go. By the time Gaspar won his appeal to block the hospital's plan, it was too late. By then, Jimenez was living with his 73-year-old mother 12 hours from the Guatemalan capital. A South Florida Roman Catholic priest visited Jimenez to check on his condition. In an e-mail to The Associated Press, he described Jimenez as clean and glad to see visitors. "It seemed that he was cooperating with his caregiver and would survive, I guessed, until his first pneumonia," wrote the Rev. Frank O'Laughlin. O'Laughlin called the lawsuit important. He and Larson say a country that relies on cheap immigrant labor for everything from agriculture, to clothing to construction, should factor in the cost of catastrophic injuries to those providing essential services — whether it means requiring employers to offer coverage for day laborers or ensuring public and nonprofit hospitals can care for them. Carla Luggiero, a senior associate director for American Hospital Association, said that cases such as Jimenez's are rare. Most of the time, hospitals are able to work with the families to find acceptable care. But she also warned the issue is serious, and said the federal government should address it as it debates health care reform. "There is absolutely no discussion about it," Luggiero said.

I'd sue for creating a hostile working environment. I have before, not the fire dept... but a municipality. That's what happens when people in high places try to put a group against a person over inter corporate politics. But sometimes its best to just move on. However, sounds like you'd have an air tight defamation of character suit.

Thanks turnip!

American Association of Retired Persons AARP

I use WNL in quick radio reports, if they have normal vitals, and are triage appropriate; rather than need to be seen ASAP.

Well.. It would be nice to have a small CAFS system on the ambulance, we ALWAYS roll before our trucks. Wrecks with fires, really isn't going to help the patients breathing to be spraying DC if they're trapped. Carry CO2, but a small CAFS would be nice. Rescue tools like the Jaws? No way. You need to be able to get going in off the beaten path areas. Can't do that if you have tools hanging off, unless someone else is "bringing them home". A commercial utility truck, as a lite rescue may be the better option. ..and they won't be getting a new American LaFrance either, unless it's a Demo or Used.

That was posted on May 27th when the thread began; and both videos have been posted since then. Read more than the first page.

Spleen

That's like our Emergency Management, going to conferences on cruise ships, and beach side resorts. Questionable spending, my point is. Recently, I read over EMS statutes as part of my curiosity of how EMS works in other states, countries, etc. Some of the upper plains states have very outdated EMS programs, equipment lists and operational guidelines that are straight out of the early 1970's. One state doesn't require EMS trained personnel on BLS ambulances, only someone with EVOC to drive; and someone with advanced first aid and CPR to attend the patient. I believe that was present in the current "rules and regulations" for either North or South Dakota. Now that may not be used, but if it's written, it has the potential to be followed.

You know, probably because he had no means to be cared for here, they put in that effort. Do you think they'd do the same for John Q. American? Maybe, but I doubt it. There isn't enough free or even donated funding to give everyone the absolute best, at no cost. Maybe just adequate, or skimming the edge; or for a real sick child now and then. I won't say he doesn't deserve care, because I'm a softy and a Human. But I think it sounds like they did pretty good for him. Maybe the person should look to some international medical foundation to offer supportive care, rather than suing the hospital. Tough call, I know what I'd like to say as John Q. Taxpayer.

P'wned On Camera - Prolly Nawt Work Safe This one's for you Dust... We should start a fail blog.. "Keeping EMT's Employed"

They probably thought it was supposed to say "An All-American City"

I skimmed that link that chb posted, glad to see it listed recommended use in ruptured AAA. I've noted in past discussions that we used it in suspected ruptured triple A's, based on past history, symptoms and decompensated shock. One was an aortic injury, but we applied it due to massive trauma and hypotension. Bought him enough time to talk to a family member before we took him to the chopper. So, even though he died, it did serve a purpose that probably helped with some closure. Had a few instances where it delayed the inevitable, but ultimately, death won.

Isn't it the "Medical.. Anti-Shock Trouser", rather than Military..

His family looks like the band from which ever part of the Back To The Future series that had the 50's dance. This whole thing get more and more odd every fricken day.

LMFAO!

I'm not saying anything bad. I'm rural myself. I' m just interested in how things work in areas that are even smaller than mine. In fact.. I'd be all over that like a fat kid in a candy store. That'd be the perfect place to live with a large SUV and a folding stretcher. Maybe I should move?

Sensation/Motor(function)/Circulation and Soft/Non/Tender As in.. S/M/C Present; and Abdomen S/N/T.

Did a truck back into him in a loading dock? What season/episode is it? They're optional for us, in fact, they're not even on the M.B.E.L. Minimum Basic Equipment List. But they're in the protocols. (Penna) I was in the last class to be taught their proper use, locally, and that was ten years ago. Now, for pelvic fractures, we'd use the SAM Slings. I can't exactly recall the number of times I've used them, but it's been quite a number of times. Pelvic fractures, multiple fractures of the legs and shock. I've seen it used many times, and used it myself for it's intended purpose. Everything we do has pros, cons, positive outcomes and eventual death. It's just another tool in the bag of tricks. Had a boy fall through a hay loft door in a barn the summer after I became an EMT. We carry an unusual amount of traction splints. Don't ask. He had both femurs, and a lower left leg fracture. The other EMT was actually going to put a Pedi Hare on the right leg, and a Thomas on the left. Never liked me after that day, I said it's 99, not 69.. We used the Pedi MAST. That was the last time I used the child set. The patient still had pedal pulses, and had a significantly reduced amount of pain. Pain isn't just a symptom that we can brush off, even some relief, is beneficial to the victim. We joke around as a mood breaker, a tell tale sign someone's going to die, is when we get out the shock suit. Rural, backwoods, EMS, 'God' hates us. Time just isn't in our court. Just like other things in the compartments. It's not used that often, lots of literature to support it, and denounce it. Hell, it may have a come back someday. I doubt it; but either it works or it doesn't. But I'm implying that it's something that you may not consider using, so when you do, chances are the victim's in a pretty bad way.

They have no access to an ambulance at all? I wonder what the death rate for medical and trauma patients is? In 2009, it doesn't seem possible that areas with in the 48 contiguous states are 100% unable to get an ambulance dispatched from somewhere. But I couldn't get information about said curiosity about Quitman Co., Ga. Lone... Oh, Lone... Road trip time. Take a camera and a note pad.

Ah yes... We'll always have jobs.

http://www.epicfail.com/2009/06/02/parenting-fail-3/ I had to stop looking after page 29 b/c the hysterical laughter was making me woozy.

Epic Fail OMFG.. I laughed so hard, I think I tore an organ loose. This is a good one. That kid needs help. This is the kind of kid that would kill someone, b/c of a video game. http://www.epicfail.com/2009/06/30/game-fail/ http://www.epicfail.com/2009/06/22/world-of-warcraft-fail/

Suicide by nitro? I wonder how that would go? Tempting.