Comments on: A woman claims battery after a medical student botched an intubation

By: Molly

Molly — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:54:00 +0000

When I was trained to be an EMT a few years ago, the rules were that you couldn’t insert an ET tube…you could do the tube that sits on top of the trachea but doesn’t go in. Those were California rules; I don’t know if it’s different in Indiana.

But– in an OR setting, the anesthesiologist, the nurse anesthetist, resident, or medical student should be inserting the tube, not an EMT, as far as I know.

By: malkah

malkah — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:50:00 +0000

There’s more –

The link below is a webcast of the oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court this past week on this case:

http://www.indianacourts.org/apps/webcasts/default.aspx?search=mullins&view=table&sort=

By: malkah

malkah — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:30:00 +0000

The link below is the judgment from the Indiana Appeals Court. It states that the student was training to become an emergency medical technician, and that this was the first time she had attempted an intubation on a live person. The judgment also included in detail the contents of the informed consent forms that Mullins signed.

PDF version:
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/06300506jgb.pdf

HTML version:
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:kzDldZH4XdIJ:www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/06300506jgb.pdf+Larea+VanHoey&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

By: lawyersux

lawyersux — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:28:00 +0000

Could she have been training to be a nurse anesthetist?

By: Molly

Molly — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 13:46:00 +0000

At any rate, the AP got the story wrong. See this.
The "student" was from St. Francis, which does not have a medical school and therefore must have been a nursing student-- that changes the whole issue because it's outside of the scope of the duty of a nurse.

By: D.P.

D.P. — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 03:32:00 +0000

lawyersux--I wasn't referring to quality; I was referring to trust. If that makes me a jackass, then "hee-haw." And make that "jackass-ette."

By: lawyersux

lawyersux — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 23:31:00 +0000

“Okulus–why are you so passionate about proving that patients give up their rights at a training hospital? If you are a doctor, I pray that I never find myself in your “care.”

Another jackass who thinks he can judge the quality of a physican by what drivel he posts on a moronic web-site blog.

By: Okulus

Okulus — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 22:07:00 +0000

d.p.:

Now don't get your pants in a bunch. No one on this blog reply thread is going to make you endure any unwanted touching. Honest. (Note: this is a thread, not a hospital; this is a discussion--sort of--not a professional encounter.)

I wouldn't call my response passionate. And I really am not interested in curtailing anyone's autonomy.
I just don't think this lady should be pressing for battery against a medical student. If she wants to make a case for malpractice against the person supervising that student, that is another issue.

Honestly, she seems to be about as mean-spirited a patient as I could imagine anywhere, and I hope she loses this legal fight.

By: D.P.

D.P. — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:50:00 +0000

Okulus–why are you so passionate about proving that patients give up their rights at a training hospital? If you are a doctor, I pray that I never find myself in your “care.”

Honestly, I don’t care about the legalities, but if you touch me without my consent, I’ll file a complaint with the health department at the very least. Get over yourself, and show a little respect for the patient population.

By: Okulus

Okulus — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:23:00 +0000

Gee, I always thought paucity was a small, compact word.

Per the esteemed firm of Mirriam and Webster:

One entry found for paucity.
Main Entry: pau·ci·ty
Pronunciation: 'po-s&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English paucite, from Latin paucitat-, paucitas, from paucus little -- more at FEW
1 : smallness of number : FEWNESS
2 : smallness of quantity : DEARTH

I like it. It's a keeper.