Wierd call. Can you create a scenario that justifies it?

[DwayneEMTP]

...Well if your significant other died and you felt those responsible had been in the wrong wouldn't you be complaining?...

No, I would be mourning, and spending time helping my family to cope with the unexpected loss. I can pretty much guarantee you that I wouldn't be on the phone with the media.

...No, you wouldn't, you don't love me that much, infact knowing you, you'd drop me at like nine mile road and make me walk through Harper Woods or some shit, bastard!...

Kiwi, you're starting to get cynical in your old age Brother. We'd not forget you, we'd honor you with the "The Thorny Fucker Finally Dropped Dead Anual EMTCity CAP Lap Scholarship."

I'm a little bit hurt that you believe us so calous as to just walk away from your dead body...

Dwayne

[Doczilla]

Kiwi, you're starting to get cynical in your old age Brother. We'd not forget you, we'd honor you with the "The Thorny Fucker Finally Dropped Dead Anual EMTCity CAP Lap Scholarship."

I'm a little bit hurt that you believe us so calous as to just walk away from your dead body...

We'd waive the tuition fee.

'zilla

It sounds like she was full of ideas as to what she thought they should be doing, and based on her complaint, probably not too quiet about it. If she was being such a massive PITA, I'd drop her ass by the side of the road too.

They cynical part of me knows from prior experience with virtually any healthcare provider is that everyone seems to think they know better than the medics, and that they have the right to tell them what to do, being that EMS is apparently at the bottom of the medical food chain.

'zilla

[island emt]

Being from the same state and having been to the loaf on more than a few occaisions, All I will say is the service up there is very well regarded and the trip down the mountain on a nice sunny summer day is an interesting 50 minute ride to the nearest hospital. This event happened on a beautiful snowy Maine winter day with nasty driving conditions.

The press report is from the victims home province in Canada, and they only info they printed in the story is from his widow.

Yes we do have a termination of resuscitation protocol here.

Yes they can choose to leave a body if protocol has been followed.

The current thinking [read protocol] is to not transport bodies to the hospital.

Other than that I will wait until the investigation has been completed and the report been made official.

On another thought: How many traumatic arrests survive?

Do you work and transport traumatic arrests more than an hour down the road to a tier 2 hospital?

Do you have a field termination protocol at all?

[DwayneEMTP]

Yeah, I don't think that anyone is questioning field termination protocols at the paramedic level. But I think that most of us would either cease on scene, or continue to the hospital. I'd never heard of starting to the hospital and then reversing course to return the body to the scene.

I'm not in any way saying that there is an issue with the protocol, it's just strange to me. As if you'd said that you could leave the body on scene as long as you painted the face orange first. Probably a fine idea, but I just have no place in my brain for it upon first blush.

I answer to your questions, nearly none, No, and every place that I've worked since becoming a medic has had field termination protocols in place.

Dwayne

[island emt]

Like I said above: I wasn't there & I don't know any of the details of the call.

I can only think that if the pt arrested within a short time of leaving the ski area and they were faced with an hour plus trip to deliver a body to the hospital ,or turn around and go back a few miles to the mountains medical room, the decision to return would make the most sense to me.

[Chief1C]

... but that defies the laws of basic science, you should only get pissy if your BGL is high and you've got polyuria due to osmotic diuresis

Easy there beached whale, I'll snap you like a twig. Pissy. Hitting you with a brick, pissy. I still enjoy your textbook responses, Wiki.

Okay.. WTF is that?

wtf is up with the security message?

Edited January 31, 2012 by 2c4

[DFIB]

The reality is that we are probably all in the ditch about her motivation.

For all I know she wanted to load their ski gear in the ambulance and stayed to watch the gear when refused, A reporter walks by and said "why are you standing "on the side of the road" with ski gear. They wouldn't let me carry it on the ambulance with my critical husband. Your husband is critical? And you are here? If you will sue them I will write the story!! Oh look, he must be better! They are coming back ...

Only the participants really know what really went down.

[Chief1C]

Bad things happen when you mix personal grief with professional skills. One of our written SOP's, is that you don't work on your own family, at least not in the ambulance. I'm not really up to relating anything personal, kinda down, took a diazepam so now I'm kinda sedated.

The red flag here, is that instead of doing what a nurse knows to do, she went to the press. So, either they REALLY fucked up, or she remembers things different. As to why they dumped her off, hard to say. I'd have put her in the front seat, and locked the mid-ship door.

[ERDoc]

So it looks like the state has opened an investigation now. No big surprise but just figured I'd add an update.

http://bangordailyne...af-skier-death/

http://www.wcsh6.com...-death-response

EDIT: I'd also be interested in knowing more about the injuries. Chest trauma could mean almost anything.

Edited February 3, 2012 by DwayneEMTP

[Chief1C]

Like "Head Injury" I hate that. Probably 95% of the time, it's like a minor contusion or very small laceration with any quantity of blood.