Brian J. Maguire, Dr.PH,
MSA
Clinical Associate Professor
Associate Graduate Program Director
Department of Emergency Health Services
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
maguire@umbc.edu
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Maguire
BJ, Porco FV. An Eight Year Review of Legal Cases Related to an Urban
911 Paramedic Service. Prehospital
and Disaster Medicine. 1997; 12(2): 83-86.
Abstract
Study Objectives - An 8 year retrospective analysis was conducted to
determine the type and outcome of lawsuits related to the provision of
911 Paramedic service in an urban environment.
Design - For the evaluation period of May 1986 to March 1994, all
litigation cases related to Ambulance service or Paramedics were
collected and analyzed.
Setting - This urban 911 Paramedic Service has a call volume that
produced over 60,000 assignments and over 30,000 patient encounters
during the evaluation period.
Results - Seven lawsuits have been filed against the service. No
lawsuits were related to tardy response, failure to transport or,
patient care negligence of any kind. 100% of the suits were related to
Motor Vehicle Accidents.
Conclusions - The use, and lack of use, of seatbelts was found to be an
important component in many of the suits.
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