A decision by a Volusia County jury that a private ambulance service should pay $10 million for the premature birth of a boy in one of its vehicles could have implications on the way paramedics across the country respond to emergencies, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
Last month, the jury held EVAC liable in the transport of Margarita Chess, who was six months pregnant when she gave birth to her son in the ambulance en route to the hospital in 2003. The boy, Addison Chess, survived but suffered brain damage and has cerebral palsy, according to the report.
EVAC, and the county, are now asking the judge to reconsider the jury's decision and hearings have been scheduled for June and July.
"EMTs and paramedics will go on the call until lawsuits like this break the bank and they can't go anymore," Ben Hinson, past president of the American Ambulance Association and owner of Mid-Georgia Ambulance Service, told the newspaper. "That is $10 million that comes out of the ability to provide care, and the community will suffer because of that cost."
The jury determined that the ambulance service was negligent for accepting the transport, as well as for the medical care on board. Though it was a breech birth and the infant wasn't breathing at first, the paramedic performed CPR to revive him, according to court records.
However, the plaintiff's attorney said the key issue wasn't whether the ambulance could have refused to transport, but whether the paramedic did what was necessary before accepting the patient.
"The paramedic should have evaluated her before they transported her. Otherwise, the ambulance runs as a taxi service," Bob Kelley said.
Experts are worried the verdict could imply extra decision-making that might not be ideal in similar situations
"It is troubling from the paramedic's standpoint because it forces them to make an independent decision as to whether the doctor made the right call to transport," University of Florida law school professor Lyrissa Lidsky told the newspaper. "They may have to potentially say no to avoid liability... We want the person with the most knowledge and the most sophisticated medical judgment, presumably the emergency room doctor, to make that decision."
