consent

Respecting an autonomous decision to refuse life-saving treatment: a case study

‘in which autonomous patients are choosers who act intentionally, with understanding, and without controlling influences that determine their actions’. .

A human rights perspective on the use of social media by the ambulance services

‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and...

Community paramedics: need of legal education specific to the pre-hospital non-emergency environment (discussion based on Texas)

Community paramedicine institutes medical monitoring, treatment, and interventions performed by a paramedic into the home setting (White and Wingrove, 2012). However, community paramedicine also...

Informed consent in paramedic practice

The discussion that follows is concerned only with consent as it relates to a competent adult patient receiving treatment in England. Patients who lack capacity, are under 18 years of age, or...

The ethical and legal dilemmas paramedics face when managing a mental health patient

The patient, who will be called John for confidentiality purposes, presented to the ambulance service with an ‘altered mental state’. John had arrived at a friend's house during the night, behaving in...

A critical appraisal of the impact of Section 3 of the Mental Capacity Act (2005)

‘Bodily invasions in the course of proper medical treatment stand completely outside the criminal law. A competent adult cannot be treated without consent; this protects the patient's autonomy and...

Decision making for refusals of treatment—a framework to consider

In September 2009, a young adult Ms Wooltorton drank antifreeze, dialled 999 and presented the attending ambulance staff with a letter dated 14 September saying she wanted no lifesaving treatment but...