Should EMS report Illegal Aliens?

[Dustdevil]

I didn't say I wouldn't pass it on. I said I wasn't going to call the cops unless she asked me to.

[wrmedic82]

EMS...You call, we haul, thats all. Unless they put law enforcement into my job description...not my problem. The only thing Im concerned with is getting that patient to the hospital and getting what can be done for the patient done. If all that can be done is a ECG, o2 and ASA. Im ok with that. An IV has never saved a life...but it does help out greatly. Definitive care is the ultimate goal. they have much better toys to play with.

[spenac]

For those that want to play cop you can watch these cameras along the border and report any activity that looks suspicious. Like people crossing the river.

Or people with large back packs full of drugs.

http://www.texasborderwatch.com/

[scott33]

EMS...You call, we haul, thats all.

progressive thinking

An IV has never saved a life...

Admin, can we have a weekly "silliest thing stated on an internet forum" section please?

[spenac]

EMS...You call, we haul, thats all. Unless they put law enforcement into my job description...not my problem. The only thing Im concerned with is getting that patient to the hospital and getting what can be done for the patient done. If all that can be done is a ECG, o2 and ASA. Im ok with that. An IV has never saved a life...but it does help out greatly. Definitive care is the ultimate goal. they have much better toys to play with.

Well we do not go by the you call we haul crap. If the call and after an exam they can safely go by other means we deny them. While patient needs definitive care we can push numerous drugs so they have a better long term outcome. The more heart saved the better. If all you do is load and go care is delayed that could save cardiac muscle.

[brentoli]

Getting off topic here, but many womens health organizations discourage mandatory police reporting of domestic violence and rape. Their fear is if a health care provider is required to turn it in... the women will not get the care they need.

[flapsdwn]

So heres the case. You are called for a heart attack. A patient that has no ID walks up to ambulance and says chest hurts. You run 12 lead and find PSVT, 200pulse, BP 146/100, cool,pale, moist skin, resp 24, clutching chest, but can still talk in short sentences. So in talking you realize obviously this guy needs medical care but also that he is illegally in the USA.

So what would you do? Treat him? Refuse him? Report him? Take him to hospital and say nothing? What?

So heres the case. You are called for a heart attack. A patient that has no ID walks up to ambulance and says chest hurts. You run 12 lead and find PSVT, 200pulse, BP 146/100, cool,pale, moist skin, resp 24, clutching chest, but can still talk in short sentences. So in talking you realize obviously this guy needs medical care but also that he is illegally in the USA.

So what would you do? Treat him? Refuse him? Report him? Take him to hospital and say nothing? What?

I am faced with these issues every single tour. We have large ammounts of UDAs and we have several come up to the station asking for water, etc. We also run automatic aid with dets that go all the way to the Mexican border. It is also not uncommon to have "coyotes," (smugglers) run from border patrol with a load of 20-30 people in an average sized pickup packed like sardines. When invariably the truck leaves the roadway and rolls, we now get to use the handy dandy triage kit and start setting up an unreal response, figuring out landing zones, level two staging.... its crazy. I've had everything from twenty-something healthy young guys trying to make it better and send money back to their families to 16 y/o F with nursing infants to little grandmothers needing a cane to walk.

We have a duty to act in providing care to these people. I do what needs to be done in an unjudgemental way and go on. It pisses me off later that I launched 4 helos at six-eight grand plus a pop.... two engines for extrication and a "just in case" hose on the ground....six to ten ground units (some with multiple patients) and my tax dollars get to pay for it all.... so many can go to a level one trauma center and rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills.. so an ICE agent can ick 'em up at the hospital and put em on a bus south with a good mean an airconditioning.. yeah, pisses me off.

If it were me down south broke as hell I'd prolly be trying to do the same thing.. but I resent the ones that risk women children and others with a seventy mile trek through hell. I also resent the SUPPOSED advocates and church groups that put water towers with flashing beacons in the desert. It gives them a false sense of security. Its like putting a cute barney the dinasaur bandaid on a chain saw lac... Looks purty.. aint gonna do shit but get in the way and make folks think the problem is helped.

[spenac]

I am glad everyone so far says they would treat them regardless of whether or not they would report them. I deal with this frequently. If a person needs medical care and transport they get it. If they do not need transport we deny them. If after getting to hosptal and see them go out the door w/o being seen by a doctor you bet law enforcement gets involved. If you abuse my ambulance to get past the check points you deserve to go to jail as while we're out on your fake call my family my even have a real emergency and no one is there to help. Yes many illegals with real medical problems use the ambulance. Surprisingly many after getting the needed care return home.

[wrmedic82]

progressive thinking

Admin, can we have a weekly "silliest thing stated on an internet forum" section please?

Show me how an I.V. has ever saved a life?

[scott33]

Show me how an I.V. has ever saved a life?

Let's see – route of choice for administration of life-saving ACLS meds, route of choice for administration of blood and blood products, route for of choice for induction of pre-surgical anesthesia for life-threatening conditions, route of choice for administration of fluids / pressors to sustain viable MAP, route of choice for administration of certain antitoxic agents, route of choice for administration of antibiotics for meningococcal septicemia, or bacterial PNA / sepsis, route of choice for the timely adminstration of thrombolytic agents for CVA / MI, etc, etc.

You could use your argument for any other single intervention out there, including O2 administration. Point being, IVs are used in conjunction with continued care, and have been integral in saving many lives. Lives which may have been lost if access was unobtainable or delayed.