If an EMT or Paramedic did this, it'd be off with their head

[CBEMT]

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=119833

The most pathetic part about this is that it took 8 years just to get to the part where he gets a slap on the wrist. Think this punishment means anything to a guy who makes as much money as he does?

[mobey]

Ya I am always very careful when removing lungs in the field!

*Jokes*

Seriously though, it is sad that in this day and age mistakes like this still happen. This is why the surgeons usually sign the skin over the area the operation is taking place!

[ERDoc]

Yeah, I'd be pretty upset if an EMT or medic removed my lung.

[Ridryder 911]

Wrong, but at least its a mistake.. look at one of our own did!

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/06/cl...caught_usi.html

[itku2er]

Rid we have had that happen here too but not only with credit cards some even went back the patients house and stole their pain meds and any cash they had laying around.

Mobey remind me if I am ever in Canada stay out of your area I like my lungs where they are placed securely in my chest!

[Spock]

"Wrong sided surgery" still happens and is a big issue in the operating room. The surgeon is required to mark the surgery site and before incision the circulating nurse calls a "time out" and states the patients name, the surgical procedure, patient allergies and if antibiotics were given. All in the room must agree before incision is made. We still have surgeons complain that they have to mark the site. How pompous and arrogant can they be?

This surgeon should be required to tell all of his future patients about this mistake.

Live long and prosper.

Spock

[CBEMT]

Very funny guys. I meant if an EMT or medic screwed something up bad enough to cause a death and then falsified the run sheet, there'd be no 2 year suspension 8 years later. It'd be no license, ever, starting as soon as the DOH found out.

And even if there WAS a suspension, think the EMS person could survive the unemployment as easily as a surgeon?

[Upton4785]

A friend of mine from back in high school had to get surgery on his left knee. He'd heard about some of the mistakes the doctors had made, so he took a big black marker and wrote "DO NOT OPERATE ON THIS KNEE OR I WILL SUE YOU" on his right knee. Apparently the doctor said he had to wait a few minutes before starting the surgery because everyone in the operating room was laughing when they saw that.

[VentMedic]

I meant if an EMT or medic screwed something up bad enough to cause a death and then falsified the run sheet, there'd be no 2 year suspension 8 years later. It'd be no license, ever, starting as soon as the DOH found out.

We've had plenty of serious mistakes made in EMS. In some cases where EMS is fire-based, they are just transferred off the Medic unit to a fire engine in the suburbs which can actually be a promotion.

In California, they can just get a cert in another county and continue on like nothing happened. This not only includes medical errors but felonies also.

[toutdoors]

Ah, yes, the age old adage that it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bushel. This holds so true for our field of work, as well as elsewhere. The biggest problem? We deal with human lives. We have had a shady character in the department I work in, and in the ambulance service I work for. Oh yeah, same guy too. First he was convinced he should retire early from the department, yet the ambulance service continued to employ him. I have no idea why, it was no secret what he been in trouble for.

Of course he burned a few fellow employees, as well as associates from work, such as pilots for the helicopter, a widow of a former employee who was killed in the line of duty, and gave a few false reports.

How is it that these people manage to stay employeed for as long as they do? Thankfully, there are a very very few number of these people around our line of work. The unfortunate part is when something does happen, such as the medic who stole the credit cards, we all get a black eye from their actions. I do believe that for the vast majority of people in EMS, there is a genuine concern for the people we serve, and the thought of doing something so ludicrous never crosses our minds.