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Originally Posted by Captain Snooze
I don't have an ethical issue with that but I'm wondering, given the country in which this article was published, if there might be legal ramifications.
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It is basically a triage/disaster protocol. They are just following protocol orders from the medical director too, so it is on that person. They might do base consults too in these situations, but typically paramedics have the right to say when a patient expires. They probably just won’t transport PEA/asystole patients in situations where the chances are slim based on age, comorbidities, and the based on the story like if someone was down for 15 minutes without CPR and likely has an anoxic injury. I’m sure they will still transport pediatric patients, even if the odds are really poor. They might try to reroute bodies from unsecured scenes away from the ER. Suicides and ODs that are likely far gone might not get transported as much either. Sometimes we work people up for a while, but sometimes we call it in five minutes based on the situation, likelihood for survival, age/comorbidities, etc. They are just trying to free up space. These bodies tie up a lot of resources in the hospital for the code and for hours after to process the body with family, coroner, etc.