A while back, when I wrote about the duty to act, I emphasized the idea that the duty to act only extends to “on-duty” medical personnel. In fact, my exact words were,
“If you are a trained medical professional and you are acting with an expectation of compensation you have a duty to act appropriately and within the scope of your training when called to assist with an emergency situation.”
I figured I should emphasize the idea that trained EMTs don’t have a duty to act when they aren’t being compensated for their services. This seemed to be the point of greatest confusion. I never thought much about making it clear that while you are on duty, working as an EMT, you are required to act.
I know … it seems painfully obvious. I thought so too. But over the past few weeks, there have just been a slew of stories that seem to fly in the face of the obvious.
First, there was the strange story of the UK paramedic who watched his EMT partner deliver a non-breathing child, didn’t call for any assistance, then watched her try to resuscitate the child. To his credit, he did drive her to the hospital while she continued the resuscitation attempt in the back.
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For the most part, people trust us.
When they hand over their confidential medical information, they trust us.
When they hand over the keys to their houses, their cars and their posessions, they trust us.
When they surrender their limbs to our IV’s and their bodies to our medications, they trust us.
When they open the front door and point toward the back bedroom where their loved one lays in bed and say, “She’s back here.” they trust us.
When they hold their baby in outstreached arms they trust us.
They trust that we know the right thing to do.
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Did you know you had a code of ethics? You do.
It was writen by Dr. Charles Gillespie and adopted by the National Association of EMT’s in 1978. It probably 
appeared somewhere near the front of your EMT textbook. It may have been touched upon by your instructor during your medical / legal lecture. It’s less likely that you were ever ask to raise your hand and recite its words (or accompanying oath.)
Consider what it means to be ethical. Ideas regarding what it means to act ethically in the practice of medicine have been handed down from hard won lessons of human history. From the sacred pledge of the Hippocratic Oath to the tenants of the Declaration of Helsinki and the Nuremberg Code, medical ethics has evolved to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a moral provider of medical care.
Your patients place great trust in you because your authority rests on the honor and tradition of a code of medical ethics. In case you haven’t read it in a while, here is the EMT Code of Ethics.
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