Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
A fundamental local law text for undergraduate paramedics in Australia and New Zealand.
Applied Paramedic Law and Ethics Australia and New Zealand is the first of its kind to bring together legal and ethical concepts specifically for the Australian and New Zealand paramedic profession.
An indispensable guide for student paramedics, Applied Paramedic Law and Ethics Australia and New Zealand promotes the understanding of ethical principles and legal regulations through realistic scenarios and extensive case studies, which are available both in the book and on Elsevier’s Evolve platform.
The book includes Australian state-specific legislation and local case law, and there is a chapter devoted specifically to the New Zealand paramedic service.
This excellent law textbook focuses on the essential concepts and skills local paramedics need to respond to life-threatening emergencies in often-unfamiliar environments. For paramedics to determine the best course of action in any situation they need an intimate understanding of the profession’s code of conduct and current legal regulations. In its attention to key areas such as consent, negligence, child protection, mental health and record-keeping Applied Paramedic Law and Ethics Australia and New Zealand proves a fundamental resource for the undergraduate paramedic course in Australia and New Zealand.
The textbook’s 13 comprehensive chapters are written in a clear, engaging style ideal for undergraduate paramedic students as well as ambulance service volunteers and practicing paramedics.
- Over 60 paramedic-specific scenarios
- Relevant case law discussed
- Suitable for the undergraduate course in Paramedic Law and Ethics
- Provides a clear ethical decision-making model for paramedics Key supporting features available on the Evolve platform:
- Multiple choice, short answer and essay questions
- Case studies
- Image collection
- Additional instructor resources including PowerPoints and further case studies
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front cover | cover | ||
| Evolve splash page | fm_2 | ||
| Applied Paramedic Law and Ethics | i | ||
| Copyright page | iv | ||
| Table of Contents | v | ||
| Acknowledgements | vi | ||
| Foreword | vii | ||
| Contributors | ix | ||
| Reviewers | xi | ||
| 1 Why introduce paramedics to law, ethics and professionalism? | 1 | ||
| Learning objectives | 1 | ||
| Introduction | 2 | ||
| Conclusion | 6 | ||
| Review questions | 6 | ||
| Endnotes | 6 | ||
| 2 An introduction to ethics for paramedics | 8 | ||
| Learning objectives | 8 | ||
| Introduction | 9 | ||
| What is ethics? And what isn’t it? | 9 | ||
| Misunderstanding: ‘Acting ethically just means helping people’ | 10 | ||
| Misunderstanding: ‘Acting ethically just means following the law’ | 11 | ||
| Misunderstanding: ‘Acting ethically is only something to worry about in difficult cases’ | 12 | ||
| Misunderstanding: ‘Acting ethically is about avoiding moral dilemmas’ | 13 | ||
| Misunderstanding: ‘Acting ethically is relative’ | 15 | ||
| The three main ethical theories | 17 | ||
| Consequentialist ethics | 18 | ||
| Objection: Does consequentialist ethics demand too much from us? | 19 | ||
| Objection: Should we always try to maximise happiness? | 20 | ||
| Deontological ethics | 21 | ||
| Objection: Is deontological ethics too rigid? | 22 | ||
| Virtue ethics | 23 | ||
| Objection: What do we do in the meantime? | 24 | ||
| The four principles of bioethics | 25 | ||
| What is the principle of autonomy? | 26 | ||
| What is the principle of non-maleficence? | 27 | ||
| What is the principle of beneficence? | 27 | ||
| What is the principle of justice? | 28 | ||
| Applying the four principles | 29 | ||
| Conclusion | 31 | ||
| Review questions | 32 | ||
| Endnotes | 32 | ||
| 3 PRECARE – an ethical decision-making model for paramedics | 33 | ||
| Learning objectives | 33 | ||
| Introduction | 34 | ||
| The PRECARE decision-making model | 34 | ||
| Problem | 35 | ||
| Reconnaissance | 36 | ||
| Ethics | 37 | ||
| Code | 39 | ||
| Alternative | 40 | ||
| Regulations | 41 | ||
| Evaluate | 43 | ||
| Conclusion | 45 | ||
| Review questions | 46 | ||
| Endnotes | 47 | ||
| 4 The ethical governance of paramedic practice | 48 | ||
| Learning objectives | 48 | ||
| Introduction | 49 | ||
| Codes of conduct | 49 | ||
| Governance | 50 | ||
| How ethical governance is distinguished from morality and legal governance | 51 | ||
| Principles and the role of moral principles in ethical governance | 55 | ||
| Paramedics and public sector ethics codes | 56 | ||
| The principles stated in codes covering paramedics | 56 | ||
| SA Ambulance Service Code of Ethics and Conduct 2010 | 56 | ||
| Ambulance Service of NSW Code of Conduct 2006 | 56 | ||
| Queensland Public Service Code of Conduct 2010 | 57 | ||
| Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees (No. 1) 2007 | 57 | ||
| St John Ambulance WA Motto, Mission and Values | 57 | ||
| Ambulance Tasmania | 57 | ||
| ACT Public Service Code of Ethics | 58 | ||
| Paramedics Australasia Code of Conduct | 59 | ||
| Code of Conduct for ambulance officers in New Zealand | 60 | ||
| Observations on values and principles in codes | 60 | ||
| Applying the code principles to practice | 61 | ||
| Confidential information | 62 | ||
| Conclusion | 65 | ||
| Review questions | 66 | ||
| Endnotes | 66 | ||
| 5 An introduction to the legal system and paramedic professionalism | 67 | ||
| Learning objectives | 67 | ||
| Introduction | 68 | ||
| What is the law? | 69 | ||
| Legal philosophy | 69 | ||
| How is the law made? | 71 | ||
| An Act of Parliament | 72 | ||
| Difference between an Act and a Regulation | 72 | ||
| Precedent | 73 | ||
| Different types of law | 74 | ||
| Criminal law | 74 | ||
| Civil law | 75 | ||
| Torts | 76 | ||
| Administrative law | 76 | ||
| Customary laws | 76 | ||
| Human rights laws | 77 | ||
| International law | 78 | ||
| The structure of the court system | 78 | ||
| Tribunals | 79 | ||
| How to read law | 80 | ||
| Where do paramedics fit in the legal system? | 81 | ||
| What are ambulance services? | 81 | ||
| Who can provide those services? | 81 | ||
| Who can legally use the title ‘paramedic’? | 81 | ||
| What about paramedic registration? | 82 | ||
| Paramedics as professionals | 82 | ||
| Can paramedics still be called to court to justify their actions? | 84 | ||
| What about professional disciplinary action against paramedics? | 84 | ||
| Conclusion | 86 | ||
| Review questions | 86 | ||
| Endnotes | 90 | ||
| 6 Consent and refusal of treatment | 92 | ||
| Learning objectives | 92 | ||
| Introduction | 93 | ||
| Consent | 94 | ||
| Forms of consent | 94 | ||
| Implied consent | 94 | ||
| Verbal consent | 95 | ||
| Written consent | 95 | ||
| Elements of a valid consent | 95 | ||
| Voluntary decision | 95 | ||
| Informed consent | 97 | ||
| Consent covers the treatment | 98 | ||
| Capacity | 98 | ||
| Circumstances where consent is not required | 98 | ||
| Emergencies | 98 | ||
| Non-emergencies | 99 | ||
| Refusal of treatment | 102 | ||
| Informed choice | 102 | ||
| Voluntary decision | 103 | ||
| Specific to the situation | 103 | ||
| Capacity | 103 | ||
| Presumption of capacity | 104 | ||
| Factors that can reduce capacity | 104 | ||
| Assessment of capacity | 104 | ||
| Sufficient understanding | 106 | ||
| Outcome of the assessment | 106 | ||
| Substitute decision making | 107 | ||
| How is a substitute decision maker appointed? | 108 | ||
| Terms to describe a substitute decision maker | 109 | ||
| When can a substitute decision maker make decisions for a patient? | 109 | ||
| What decisions can a substitute decision maker make? | 109 | ||
| Consent and children | 109 | ||
| Who is a child? | 112 | ||
| Who is authorised to provide consent on behalf of a child? | 114 | ||
| Can someone other than the parents provide consent? | 114 | ||
| Can a parent refuse to provide consent to treatment for their child? | 115 | ||
| Can a child provide consent for their own treatment? | 116 | ||
| What is the test to determine if a child has capacity to consent to treatment? | 117 | ||
| Can a child refuse treatment? | 119 | ||
| Conclusion | 121 | ||
| Review questions | 121 | ||
| Endnotes | 121 | ||
| 7 The tort of negligence, standards of care and vicarious liability | 130 | ||
| Learning objectives | 130 | ||
| Introduction | 131 | ||
| What is a tort? | 131 | ||
| What is negligence? | 132 | ||
| What is a duty of care? | 133 | ||
| What are the standard of care and the assessments that identify a breach of duty of care? | 134 | ||
| The giving of information and the standard of care | 135 | ||
| What is damage? | 137 | ||
| What is causation and what is remoteness? | 137 | ||
| What is vicarious liability? | 138 | ||
| Is there a duty to rescue and where do the obligations of the off-duty paramedic lie? | 139 | ||
| Good Samaritans | 140 | ||
| Intoxicated patients | 140 | ||
| Defences to a negligence claim – contributory negligence and the voluntary assumption of risk | 141 | ||
| Negligence case study 1 | 142 | ||
| The initial finding by the lower court | 144 | ||
| The finding by the NSW Court of Appeal | 144 | ||
| Was the paramedic negligent? | 144 | ||
| Conclusion as to the paramedic’s negligence | 146 | ||
| Was the Ambulance Service negligent in relation to the protocols? | 146 | ||
| Conclusion as to the negligence of the Ambulance Service | 146 | ||
| Comments on the case | 147 | ||
| Negligence case study 2 | 147 | ||
| The negligence of the paramedics | 148 | ||
| Conclusion as to the paramedic’s negligence | 149 | ||
| Comments on the District Court judgement | 149 | ||
| The appeal to the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal | 149 | ||
| A hypothetical negligence case | 151 | ||
| 8 End-of-life care | 157 | ||
| Learning objectives | 157 | ||
| Introduction | 159 | ||
| Background | 159 | ||
| Advance care directives | 161 | ||
| Competence | 162 | ||
| Directive made voluntarily | 162 | ||
| Liability of staff | 163 | ||
| Clinical practice guidelines | 164 | ||
| Lack of capacity and surrogate decision makers | 165 | ||
| What happens if there is no ‘default decision maker’ appointed? | 165 | ||
| What is the difference between passive euthanasia and withdrawing treatment and voluntary euthanasia aiding and abetting a suicide and involuntary euthanasia, and why should paramedics know it? | 167 | ||
| Pain relief and hastening death | 167 | ||
| Mercy killing | 168 | ||
| Aid, abet, assist suicide | 169 | ||
| Futile treatment | 170 | ||
| What is the definition of death and what happens to a dead body? | 171 | ||
| End-of-life decision making and the freedom to choose – food for thought | 172 | ||
| Conclusion | 172 | ||
| Review questions | 173 | ||
| Endnotes | 182 | ||
| 9 An introduction to child protection and mandatory reporting | 186 | ||
| Learning objectives | 186 | ||
| Introduction | 188 | ||
| Child protection: an overview | 188 | ||
| Who is responsible for child protection? | 189 | ||
| Why just focus on child protection and not other vulnerable members of society? | 191 | ||
| History of child protection | 191 | ||
| Identifying child abuse | 192 | ||
| The role of the paramedic | 193 | ||
| Types of abuse | 194 | ||
| Physical abuse | 195 | ||
| Sexual abuse | 195 | ||
| Emotional/psychological abuse | 197 | ||
| Neglect | 199 | ||
| Fabricated or induced illness by carers (FII) | 200 | ||
| Cultural issues related to child protection | 201 | ||
| Legal and other issues concerning child protection intervention | 203 | ||
| The threshold for child protection intervention | 204 | ||
| Rule of optimism and child abuse | 204 | ||
| Mandatory reporting | 205 | ||
| Reporting suspected cases of child abuse | 206 | ||
| Right to privacy versus state intervention | 207 | ||
| Conclusion | 207 | ||
| Review questions | 208 | ||
| Endnotes | 221 | ||
| 10 The mental health patient in the pre-hospital emergency care setting | 225 | ||
| Learning objectives | 225 | ||
| Introduction | 226 | ||
| What is mental illness? | 226 | ||
| Contemporary principles and frameworks for mental health care | 228 | ||
| The nature and challenges of mental illness in paramedic work | 229 | ||
| Ethical and practical challenges of emergency mental health care | 230 | ||
| Paramedics and people with mental illness: assessment and treatment | 231 | ||
| The role of paramedics and models for practice | 231 | ||
| Protecting and transporting patients – orders for involuntary assessment | 234 | ||
| Practice tips | 237 | ||
| Conclusion | 238 | ||
| Review questions | 239 | ||
| Endnotes | 245 | ||
| 11 Employment and industrial law in paramedic practice | 250 | ||
| Learning objectives | 250 | ||
| Introduction | 251 | ||
| What laws relating to the workplace apply to paramedics in Australia and New Zealand? | 252 | ||
| What is an employment contract? | 252 | ||
| Express and implied terms | 253 | ||
| Who is an employee? | 253 | ||
| Vicarious liability | 254 | ||
| What are an enterprise agreement and enterprise bargaining? | 254 | ||
| Doctrine of privity of contract | 254 | ||
| Greenfield agreements | 255 | ||
| Hours of work | 257 | ||
| What is workers compensation? | 258 | ||
| Termination of contract and dismissal | 258 | ||
| What is occupational health and safety? | 260 | ||
| What should I do if I assess that a workplace is unsafe? | 265 | ||
| The shootings at Highmoor Cross | 267 | ||
| What is discrimination? | 267 | ||
| Unlawful discrimination | 269 | ||
| What are bullying and harassment? | 269 | ||
| What happens if I am threatened at work? | 270 | ||
| What is meant by workplace culture? | 271 | ||
| Conclusion | 272 | ||
| Review questions | 273 | ||
| Endnotes | 277 | ||
| 12 Record keeping and the patient health care record | 280 | ||
| Learning objectives | 280 | ||
| Introduction | 281 | ||
| What is a patient health care record? | 282 | ||
| Electronic records | 283 | ||
| Record ownership | 284 | ||
| Confidentiality and privacy | 285 | ||
| Access to medical records | 285 | ||
| Patient access to their own records | 286 | ||
| Who else can gain access to records? | 288 | ||
| Content of a record | 289 | ||
| Patient identification | 292 | ||
| Critical information | 292 | ||
| Important and relevant information | 292 | ||
| Presenting problem, conditions, provisional diagnosis | 292 | ||
| History and assessment findings | 293 | ||
| Current medications and other conditions | 293 | ||
| Treatment given and medications administered | 293 | ||
| Other considerations | 293 | ||
| Correction of errors | 294 | ||
| Conclusion | 295 | ||
| Review questions | 296 | ||
| Endnotes | 298 | ||
| 13 The use of drugs in pre-hospital care | 299 | ||
| Learning objectives | 299 | ||
| Introduction | 300 | ||
| The governance of drugs | 300 | ||
| What are the ‘schedules’ of drugs? | 300 | ||
| Who may possess and supply certain drugs? | 300 | ||
| Storage and recording of drugs | 304 | ||
| What are the issues to consider with ‘drug substitution’? | 304 | ||
| What happens if I don’t use all of the schedule 8 drug? | 305 | ||
| What happens if I notice a discrepancy? | 305 | ||
| What if my patient is drug dependent? | 305 | ||
| Prescribing | 305 | ||
| Medication errors | 306 | ||
| Safety and medication administration | 307 | ||
| The five rights of drug administration | 307 | ||
| Assessment and documentation of drug administration | 308 | ||
| What happens if I give a drug in error? | 309 | ||
| Conclusion | 309 | ||
| Review questions | 310 | ||
| Endnotes | 310 | ||
| 14 Paramedic practice in New Zealand – legal issues and current debates | 312 | ||
| Learning objectives | 312 | ||
| Introduction | 313 | ||
| The history of New Zealand paramedics and ambulance services | 314 | ||
| New Zealand ambulance funding | 314 | ||
| A volunteer workforce | 314 | ||
| New Zealand’s medico–legal landscape | 315 | ||
| No-fault compensation | 315 | ||
| ‘Treatment injury’ under the Accident Compensation Act 2001 and paramedics | 316 | ||
| Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 | 317 | ||
| Code of Health and Disability Services’ Consumers Rights | 318 | ||
| The registration debate | 323 | ||
| Conclusion | 325 | ||
| Review questions | 326 | ||
| Endnotes | 328 | ||
| Glossary | 331 | ||
| Index | 335 | ||
| A | 335 | ||
| B | 336 | ||
| C | 336 | ||
| D | 339 | ||
| E | 340 | ||
| F | 340 | ||
| G | 341 | ||
| H | 341 | ||
| I | 342 | ||
| J | 342 | ||
| K | 342 | ||
| L | 342 | ||
| M | 343 | ||
| N | 344 | ||
| O | 344 | ||
| P | 344 | ||
| Q | 346 | ||
| R | 346 | ||
| S | 347 | ||
| T | 347 | ||
| U | 348 | ||
| V | 348 | ||
| W | 348 | ||
| Y | 348 |