Chapter 3 Quiz

A patient who has the capacity to understand and make an informed decision and accepts care from an EMS crew is said to give which type of consent if the patient nodded "yes" when asked by the EMT if care can be rendered?

Expressed Consent

If the EMT is off duty and begins care, then leaves the patient before other trained personnel arrive, the EMT may be considered to have ____________________ the patient.

Abandoned

List six presumptive signs of death that should be identified when dealing with a patient who has a "Do Not Resuscitate" order.

Any six: absence of pulse, breathing, and breath sounds; complete unresponsiveness to any stimuli; no eye movement or pupil response; absence of blood pressure; no reflexes; decapitation; rigor mortis; decomposition; dependent lividity.

List three types of incidents that most states require health care professionals to report to authorities.

Any three of the following: rape, child abuse, elder abuse, neglect, domestic violence, communicable diseases, gunshots, stab wounds, animal bites, suspicious burns.

List six actions you should take if a patient refuses treatment.

Complete a thorough physical assessment; try again to persuade the patient to accept treatment or transport; make sure the patient is competent to make a rational, informed decision; consult medical direction; have the patient sign a refusal of treatment form; encourage the patient to seek help if the problem persists or gets worse.

To refuse care, a patient must have the _________________ to make decisions and demonstrate that he or she understands the risks of refusing treatment.

Capacity

The principle that information about a patient's history, condition, or treatment must not be shared with unauthorized parties is called

Confidentiality

A legal document, usually signed by the patient and his or her physician, which states that the patient has a terminal illness and does not wish to prolong life through resuscitative efforts, is called a(n)

DNR order

An EMT's obligation in certain situations to provide care to a patient is referred to as a(n)

Duty to act

Obvious signs of death, with which resuscitative efforts do not have to be made, include decomposition of the body, dependent lividity, __________________________and _________________________________________.

Decapitation; rigor mortis

A person who has signed a legal document to allow his or her organs and tissues to be harvested for transplantation to another person is called an organ __________________________.

Donor

An EMT who is on an ambulance and is dispatched to a call clearly has a(n) __________ __________ ___________.

Duty to act

Minors who are married or who meet certain other criteria that allow them to legally give consent as an adult would are called __________________ minors.

Emancipated

List three types of consent.

Expressed; implied; consent to treat a minor; involuntary.

T/F An unconscious patient must regain consciousness before consent can be granted and treatment can begin.

F

T/F Children are legally allowed to provide consent for their treatment.

F

T/F In most cases, the oral requests of a family member are a sufficient reason to provide or withhold care from a patient.

F

List the four specific elements of a negligence case against an EMT.

Findings must be made that (1) the EMT had a duty to act; (2) the EMT breached that duty; (3) the patient suffered a compensable injury; (4) injuries were the result of the EMT's negligence.

Laws that provide immunity from liability to persons who stop to help in an emergency are known as ______________________ ___________________ laws.

Good Samaritan

Legislative measures intended to provide legal protection for citizens and some health care personnel who administer emergency care are known as

Good Samaritan Laws

EMS personnel can treat unconscious patients because the law holds that rational patients would consent to treatment if they were conscious. This principle is known as which type of consent?

Implied Consent

Breaching the duty to act is one of the elements that must be proved in a case involving a charge of _________________ _________________ against an EMT.

Neglengence

If a jury finds that an EMT had a duty to a patient, that the EMT failed to carry out that duty properly, and that this action caused harm to the patient, the EMT could be convicted of

Negligence

When dealing with children, the __________________________ or _______________________ have the legal authority to give consent.

Parent; guardian

Once police have made the scene safe, the priority of the EMT at a crime scene is to

Provide patient care

If all efforts fail and the patient does not accept your care or transportation, you must attempt to get the patient to sign a(n) _________ form.

Release from liability

T/F A release form is designed to protect health care providers from liability arising from the sharing of a patient's confidential information.

T

T/F A valid DNR order is a legal document.

T

T/F An EMT is legally responsible for any of the patient's property he or she picks up at the emergency scene.

T

T/F An EMT who places the patient's welfare above all else when providing medical care will rarely commit an unethical act on the job.

T

T/F An EMT's duty to act continues throughout the call or until care is transferred to someone with equal or greater expertise.

T

T/F Consent, or permission from the patient, is required for any treatment or action by the EMT.

T

T/F Emergency care for a patient identified as an organ donor should not differ from the care provided to any other patient.

T

T/F Expressed consent must be obtained from patients who are able to give it.

T

T/F Good Samaritan laws do not prevent someone from initiating a lawsuit, nor will they protect the rescuer from being found liable for acts of gross negligence and other violations of the law.

T

T/F In all cases of refusal, the EMT should advise the patient to feel free to seek help if Certain symptoms develop.

T

T/F It is not legally necessary to explain all procedures and risks of treatment to the rational, conscious patient.

T

T/F Patients with the mental capacity to make a rational decision have the right to refuse medical care.

T

Except for any legal allowances permitting the sharing of confidential information about a patient, the only time confidential information about a patient may be disclosed to others is when the patient has signed a(n) _________________ ____________________.

Written release

Leaving a patient after care has been initiated and before the patient has been transferred to someone with equal or greater medical training is known as:

abandonment

A living will is one example of a(n)

advance directive

In many states, an off-duty EMT has no legal obligation to provide emergency __________.

care

If you discover that a critically injured patient is an organ donor, as an EMT, you should

contact medical direction.

Minors who are married or of a certain age and who are legally able to give consent for medical care are known as

emancipated

A person whom the signer of a document names to make health care decisions for her in case the signer is unable to make such decisions for herself is called a(n)

proxy

When a patient refuses care, he or she must sign a(n)

release from liability form

The actions and care that an EMT is legally allowed to perform are referred to as

scope of practice