What Happens When a Paramedic Injures a Patient?

Paramedics and EMTs have difficult jobs. They often hold the lives of ill and injured victims in their hands, and they are responsible for providing patients with a reasonable level of care. When they fail to do so and cause an injury or worsen an illness, patients may suffer irreparable harm or fatal damages.

While you cannot make a claim against a paramedic directly as you could a doctor, you can hold the organization for which he or she works responsible. The paramedic’s employer is liable for ensuring its workers conduct services in a sensible way. Hospitals, ambulance services, individual paramedics, or a government agency may all fall under the scope of a lawsuit arising from paramedic negligence. Determining where the error in care actually occurred will help the plaintiff prove liability in a paramedic claim.

Sometimes, the paramedic may cause additional harm while following the prescribed standard of care. In these cases, individuals cannot hold these professionals responsible. If, however, the paramedic or employer was negligent, a medical malpractice claim might deliver financial relief for the incident.

Acts of negligence you might pursue against a paramedic include:

Paramedics have a responsibility to get to the patient in a reasonable amount of time, attend to and prepare him or her for transportation, provide safe transportation, and treat the individual until the patient enters a health care facility.

Paramedics make mistakes during the normal course of work. However, a simple error does not constitute a malpractice claim. An injured patient can take action against the paramedic or another party for causing or worsening an injury only when an oversight has occurred because of gross negligence or an act of bad faith.

As with other malpractice cases, a plaintiff needs to establish a duty of care relationship between the paramedic and the patient, provide evidence that the paramedic failed to administer reasonable care, and prove that the negligent actions of the individual directly caused the patient’s injury or death. For cases involving paramedics, a plaintiff must prove another paramedic acting in the defendant’s place would have made a different decision.

Cases involving paramedics extend from minor infractions in which someone sued for carelessly operating a gurney in such a way that it caused a knee injury to major cases in which patients die because professionals fail to administer reasonable care, exacerbating symptoms or leading to a fatal accidents. The circumstances surrounding the case and the severity of the injury play a role in successfully pursuing legal action against a paramedic.

If you feel that an ambulance technician should have reasonably prevented an injury, the worsening of an illness, or death and did not, consider discussing your case with an attorney. A specialist who understands medical malpractice can help you evaluate the viability of your case and conduct a thorough investigation to determine liability. Qualified legal counsel can also help you distinguish the fine line between acceptable mistakes and an act of malpractice and pursue compensation if a paramedic’s actions were unacceptable.

For more information related to cases in which a paramedic injures a patient or other health professional has behaved negligently, contact our Houston office today.

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