Me and my partner have been in argument for the last few days. I was wondering if some of you could lend your opinion.
We work on a native reservation in Northern Ontario. We were paged out sometime between 5-6am for a drug overdose. The only other info that I remember was that the patient was 37 and female. My partner insisted that we wait until the police cleared the scene before we went in. I felt comfortable going in without them. He contends that given the fact that we weren't familiar with the residence, as well as the time of day and the nature of the call (potential for hostility), it was unacceptable to enter before the police. I maintained that given the potential seriousness of the call, that decision was at the paramedic's discretion. In short, it's not a black and white, yes/no answer.
Your thoughts?