Bushpig

Gasp....what a response. Firstly there is no way any self respecting Paramedic will ever compromise patient care, even if it's to treat the devil himself. That is a given. We are here to provide the best possible care to EVERYONE, without exception, I certainly subscribe to these objectives. Unfortunately I believe that there is no black and white area here, none of us would "snoop" around purely for the sake of being a potential "Hardy Boy". I believe what is called for here is good old EMS common sense, we are (or hopefully will become) experienced enough to "sense" there might be a need to scratch a little deeper, same as we do for suspected child abuse cases etc. Both sides of the argument have merit, it's not an easy call. I believe far more positive will come from this than negative however the days of us being completely impartial might be coming to an end. This is really an emotive issue, I am still pondering some of the views expressed. Possibly one of the biggest points to ponder is where does this end?

Interesting topic, bare in mind that reporting illegal activities "is patient care". How would you feel if you noticed something (whether that is terrorist activity or any other illegal activity) did nothing and the result was the killing of friends and family. Often the "lack" of reporting has led to far worse incidents. I've been there, seen it, I have been involved in the management of several multiple casualty scenarios involving "terrorist" activities (mainly bomb blasts). In most instances all that was required to prevent the incident was the effective reporting of suspicious events prior to the incident. I was unfortunate enough to have been involved in a hostage situation where a mother and child was doused with petrol, the hostage taker insisted that if any law enforcement officers approached the scene he would burn both hostages. It was the "medics" at the scene who managed to gather important information on the situation that enabled the police to take out the suspect. The mother and child were both salvaged. NOW THAT'S PATIENT CARE.