A 38-year-old corrections officer collapsed at the jail while playing basketball after work. A physician assistant (PA) and a registered nurse (RN), employees of a nearby hospital contracted to provide on-site medical care at the jail, were the first to respond. They connected the defibrillator, determined that the corrections officer was asystolic with perhaps a possible ventricular fibrillation. They detected no electrical activity within the heart and defibrillated, using the lowest setting at 200 joules. They then initiated chest compressions. Paramedics arrived 18 minutes later, immediately starting an intravenous (IV) line and administering epinephrine and then atropine. They continued to provide chest compression and aeration to the patient. The patient could not be successfully resuscitated, however, and subsequently died. His family brought a lawsuit for negligence and wrongful death. The court first accepted the fact that, as paid professional caregivers within the scope of their job duties, Good Samaritan laws did not apply in this case. The issue then became whether the first responders had competently cared for this person and, if they had not cared for this patient competently, whether the patient would have survived. Should the first responders have known to start an IV and administer the same medications that the paramedics later administered?

Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement

14th Edition

ISBN:9781337679480

Author:GREEN

Publisher:GREEN

Chapter10: Coding Compliance, Clinical Documentation Improvement, And Coding For Medical Necessity

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 3R

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A 38-year-old corrections officer collapsed at the jail while playing basketball after work. A physician assistant (PA) and a registered nurse (RN), employees of a nearby hospital contracted to provide on-site medical care at the jail, were the first to respond. They connected the defibrillator, determined that the corrections officer was asystolic with perhaps a possible ventricular fibrillation. They detected no electrical activity within the heart and defibrillated, using the lowest setting at 200 joules. They then initiated chest compressions. Paramedics arrived 18 minutes later, immediately starting an intravenous (IV) line and administering epinephrine and then atropine. They continued to provide chest compression and aeration to the patient. The patient could not be successfully resuscitated, however, and subsequently died. His family brought a lawsuit for negligence and wrongful death. The court first accepted the fact that, as paid professional caregivers within the scope of their job duties, Good Samaritan laws did not apply in this case. The issue then became whether the first responders had competently cared for this person and, if they had not cared for this patient competently, whether the patient would have survived.

Should the first responders have known to start an IV and administer the same medications that the paramedics later administered?

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