Tuesday, January 24, 2006

An Interesting Blogging Predicament For EMTs and Medics

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this story about a blogger named ivwoman. It seems she was a Paramedic in Plymouth, and had a blog that contained some pictures and some off color remarks. I suppose the whole reason why is because of the lot of questions surrounding patient privacy as it is.

The examples they gave really don’t tell me anything about how a patient’s privacy was invaded. I would think the clearest one would be the picture of the bed because it is inside the residence. Is this a violation of patient privacy? Not really… but it is a violation of Privacy Laws in general.

The First Amendment has never been construed to accord newsmen immunity from torts or crimes committed during the course of newsgathering. The First Amendment is not a license to trespass, to steal, or to intrude by electronic means into the precincts of another's home or office.
Dietemann v. Time, Inc., 449 F.2d 245, 249 (9th Cir. 1971).

I suppose the reason why I even question this whole thing is because I too have freelanced as a photographer at fire scenes and on most notable car wrecks besides the pictures I took in a few relatively notorious disaster zones. In fact, I had a few pictures with my new camera I was thinking about posting here just as some examples of what we get to see everyday that to most people is surreal.

Well… this gives me reason enough to pause before doing so… because even though the pictures I take are taken usually when I’m either off or volunteering… the fact they terminated her employment when they are not even sure the pictures were real makes me wonder if my employer would do the same even if they were taken while not in their employ.
Posted by New York City's Watchdog :: 1/24/2006 06:31:00 PM :: Permalink :: 0 Bones Added to the Pile

Pick a Bone

<< Back To The Pile

..........:*:..........