Emergencies in the office

[PAkev]

PA has a "Good Samaritan" law which empowers bystanders of an emergency to render aid without the concern of being sued. The law is also written whereas any EMS provider (EMT, Paramedic, Firefighter, Police, etc) is responsible for stopping and rendering aid until dispatched EMS arrives.

Now to answer your question and my interpretation of the law: If it were here in PA and you were trained in CPR and/or Defib use, and you walked away when someone coded in your office after they were quoted a price on that Gabbana and Gabbana frame with digital freeform personalized progressive, transition, and premium AR you would be liable.

Also, I believe a doctors hypocrytical (an oxymoron) oath requires them to render service.

[WFruit]

Also, I believe a doctors hypocrytical (an oxymoron) oath requires them to render service.

It's Hippocratic oath.....

Which is:

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given to me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

[tigerlilly]

She recovered almost completely with only minor aphasia (memory loss).

Aphasia is loss of language and/or speech ability. Do you mean amnesia?

[MikeAurelius]

Aphasia is loss of language and/or speech ability. Do you mean amnesia?

A little of both actually -- she's lost some words. She talks, then all of a sudden stops, searching for a word...

[KStraker]

This gets my vote for most pathetic thread of the year. I agree with Diane.

[thiaeyemd]

I had a patient go into Vfib in the exam chair once. We have a crash cart so I ended up having to get an airway and shocked him back into systole. Not sure what the comfort level is with everyone with this because I am an MD and coded a bunch of people during internship and residency in the OR

[Ginster]

You are covered under the Good Sumaritan Law, If you are CPR Certified by the Red Cross. Our Office is, we are an Ophthalmology Practice and see alot of Geriatric patients with Diabeties. We keep Juice and peanut Butter crackers on hand as well for those who are running late for thier appointments and forget to eat something. WE have called 911 many times but we have not had to administer CPR yet Thank God.

[HarryChiling]

If it were here in PA and you were trained in CPR and/or Defib use, and you walked away when someone coded in your office after they were quoted a price on that Gabbana and Gabbana frame with digital freeform personalized progressive, transition, and premium AR you would be liable.

If you worked at a big box store you would get fired if you didn't revive them long enough to get a credit card and finalize the sale. :D

Help first CYA later.

[WFruit]

I've always found it easier to get the card while they were unconcious.... and signatures while they were still groggy.

[ThatOneGuy]

Just my 2 cents:

In the case of a serious emergency, I'd call 911 and follow the advice given.

As for someone passing out in the exam, it happens on rare occasion. Our doctor caught a woman who was falling forward out of the chair, then yelled through the office for a female employee to come in the room so that the woman wouldn't freak when she woke up to a guy pinning her in the chair.

[grumpybear]

Why is it always the guys that pass out???