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kevinds t1_iuujabi wrote

TIL: Doctors can declare people dead they haven't seen.

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HappyFishDota t1_iuv5n6u wrote

Doctors aren't gonna drive out to every corpse that gets called in. 99.999% this is a total non-issue and only sheer and utter incompetence leads to that being an issue. It's why only EMS makes the call to the doctor - they're trained to identify the difference between 'dying' and 'dead'.

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SomeManagement808 t1_iuvesbm wrote

Speak on things you actually know my guy. This is not even close to accurate. 99.9999% chance you made this shit up

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KrippledElephan t1_iuvk2ed wrote

Literally šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚. I currently work as an EMT in Colorado we are literally told to never bring in a dead pt and to work them on scene and once reasonable measures of life saving measures have been taken we are allowed to call it and end life saving measures. We are not legally pronouncing them dead but we are stopping life saving efforts. This dude has literally 0 idea wtf he was talking about

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sterfri99 t1_iuw5jbn wrote

Bro, you can both be right depending on where you work. Iā€™m a medic, and we bring in dead pts if the doc is in the mood. Pulseless vtachs and vfibs usually end up getting transported. Asystole almost never. Sometimes PEA. Stop and remember for a second that America is a massive and diverse place and your experience isnā€™t the same as everyone elseā€™s. Donā€™t talk down to him when youā€™re just as wrong

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SomeManagement808 t1_iv0qti5 wrote

The 99.99% dude talking out his ass isn't in the medical field. He's a cop. And spreading misinformation is his second day job.

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sterfri99 t1_iv1o7t4 wrote

I responded directly to the EMT above me. Heā€™s wrong too but he was more confident about it. We transport dead bodies sometimes

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SomeManagement808 t1_iv2hwcq wrote

how can he be wrong when he is only speaking to what he's told at his place of work in Colorado? he's not speaking for everybody everywhere like officer dumbass is.

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sterfri99 t1_iv2pyzh wrote

ā€œThis dude has literally 0 idea wtf heā€™s talking aboutā€ is incorrect because heā€™s applying his singular experience in Colorado to someone working elsewhere under different protocols. We transport dead bodies in my state. The guy I responded to said thatā€™s not what happens. Heā€™s objectively wrong and I called him out on it as a higher level of care provider. In my area, doctors pronounce the patient 99.99% of the time. If someone works in a different system where things are done differently I wouldnā€™t tell him heā€™s wrong

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CriusofCoH t1_iuvfqyv wrote

As a former EMT-C, I can tell you: we were specifically trained and told we could NOT declare anyone dead except in two cases: head detached from body, or evident rot. Anything else was a working code until the hospital took over.

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Noname_left t1_iuvynqg wrote

Please stop doing this. Not every person needs to be brought in.

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CriusofCoH t1_iuw01tl wrote

And that leads us right back to the OP. Gonna err on the side of "maybe they're alive" and the ever pragmatic "how about we avoid a lawsuit".

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SomeManagement808 t1_iv0tdj9 wrote

What part of "specifically trained and told" do you expect them to disregard because of some advice from "NoName" on the internet.

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wombatIsAngry t1_iuxbovs wrote

One of these guys was a certified EMT. It says in the article that his certification was revoked over this. Makes it especially egregious that he neglected to check any vitals.

I personally know a lot of firefighters who have EMT certifications despite having no interest in medicine. They find it super gross. But firefighting is very competitive to get into, and a lot of them get their EMT certification to improve their chances of being hired as firefighters.

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