Posting graphic patient pictures on the internet

An EMT’s job hangs in the balance because he did just that.

Comments

Gasman
With the blessing of his colleague/patient what’s all the fuss? If patient wished to complain then there might be a case to be made for job action. But the patient stands behind the picture posting.
Anonymous
I always get uneasy when The Man interferes with the free flow of information and, in this case, pictures.
However: The photos were taken by a cell phone, ostensibly for “training” purposes. They do not appear to have been taken for the official medical record, and it’s not clear if they were, in fact, used for training or not.
I also got the impression from the article that the EMT did not have his employer’s sanction to post the photos. And he posted them on MySpace – most definitely not a training site.
Whether the patient consented is immaterial. If these were official photos for the medical record or for official training purposes, this guy did not have the authority to post them, and he certainly did not have the authority to post them on MySpace. If the photos were more or less unofficial, then he is guilty of a mega-lapse in professional judgment.

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