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Paramedics, who are usually the first on the scene of a medical emergency must provide treatment that meets the applicable standard of care. As the first on the scene we expect paramedics to have the knowledge, training, and experience to differentiate between problems that can be treated at the scene from those that require immediate transport to a hospital with the necessary equipment and full medical staff. If there is any doubt they should call in to discuss the situation with a doctor. This article examines a case involving an expectant mother who called in from her home in the very early morning with complications from her pregnancy. When the paramedics responded the woman was already in shock from a sudden blood loss caused by a placental abruption. The paramedics failed to recognize the severity of the situation and took approximately eighteen minutes before transporting her to the hospital. Two paramedics responded to the home of the pregnant woman. She was almost at full term. She had suffered a rupture of the membrane. This had happened at her house in the early part of the morning. When the paramedics got there they failed to realize that the woman was in shock from the sudden loss of a significant amount of blood and did not realize that the blood loss was the result of a placental abruption. The paramedics therefore did not take her to a hospital right away so that a C-section could be performed on an emergency basis to protect the health of both the mother and her unborn child. During the 18 minute delay before she was transported to the hospital the baby was deprived of an appropriate supply of oxygen due to the mother's blood loss from the placental abruption. The baby died only one day after being born. The mother's blood loss was so extreme that required an additional surgery to control the bleeding and later temporarily lost kidney function. The mother retained a law firm to initiate a lawsuit for malpractice resulting in the death of her baby. States have different laws in cases involving the death of a newborn. In the state where this matter arose, for example, in order to be able to recover for the emotional damage suffered by the woman from the death of her baby the law firm that handled the case had to establish that the mother (1) suffered a physical injury that resulted from the same negligence that caused the death of the baby and (2) that such physical injury to the mother would not have typically occurred in a normal childbirth (she required additional surgery for the bleeding and suffered temporary kidney failure). The mother began suffering from severe depression six months after the death of losing her child. She was placed on a regimen of therapy and medication. Even with the therapy and medication, however, her depression continued as of the time of the law firm's report. She is expected to need the medication for the rest of her life. The mother was successful. The law firm that represented the mother reported that after taking the case to trial the jury returned a verdict in her favor and awarded her $4,500,000. This case serves as an example that if paramedics cause serious harm by failing to meet the standard of care they can be liable for malpractice.
Article Source: http://www.mycontentbuilder.com
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney focused on complex injury cases, including birth injury medical malpractice cases. You can learn more about placental abruption and medical malpractice cases by visiting his website at www.birth-injury-malpractice-law.com/placental-abruption-law.shtml.
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