The Legal Guardian
David Givot, JD, MICP
Protecting You Who Protect Others
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TLG Education Programs |
What I Do... and Why
Since becomming a Paramedic in 1989 and after completing three years of Law School, I have discovered a vast disparity between the Law that is generally taught in EMT or Paramedic school and the actual legal risks and liabilities EMS Professionals face from day to day.
In response, I have created a comprehensive and interactive series of lectures for experienced and future EMS Professionals that address the kind of real legal issues that frontline field providers face on a daily basis.
Historically, training programs call on a field provider with little or no legal experience or an attorney with no EMS experience to teach legal issues to an audience unready to receive it. The forced and typically unenthusiastic presentation leads to boredom and very little retained learning.
My programs, on the other hand, draw from my own extensive Paramedic experience and intensive Legal education to help providers understand their actual exposures as well as to provide tools and techniques for mitigating them – in a language they understand and using terms & examples to which they can easily relate.
The presentation is lively and engaging and invites (but does not require) audience participation.
As one participant put it:
“…it’s better coming from one of our own…”
In my programs, participants learn to recognize how EMS provider responsibilities stretch far beyond showing up for work and providing quality patient care. The material gets into the lesser-regarded areas of potential liability such as medical and billing documentation, interpersonal relationships on and off the job, and role modeling, just to name a few.
“The Real Law for EMS Providers” program takes the audience through from the basics of legal principles to the finer details of the issues that most directly affect them, such as negligence and malpractice.
The 90 minute documentation only program exposes common weaknesses in clinical and billing documentation; weaknesses that could cost providers personally and professionally.
Other programs such as Professional Responsibility and General Legal Principles cover important material that will open their eyes and, hopefully, improve their performance.
Please follow the link to the Contact TLG page for more information on any of these programs or for programs created specifically for your operation.
Each program is crafted for your operation.
The Real Law for EMS Providers
3-4 Hours
Like all of TLG's programs, this is lively, energetic, and fun.
This innovative and very interesting program offers a carefully balanced combination of vital information. The program involves an overhead slide presentation, actual case review, and - most of all - audience participation.
Elements of the program include, but are not limited to...
GENERAL LEGAL PRINCIPLES
The program begins with a comprehensive, yet simple-to-follow discussion of various legal principles, such as Duty, Negligence, Tort actions, Liability, Fault, and many more.
We will also discuss common, but under-appreciated, legal exposures, such as those lurking in the station, around town, off-duty, at the hospital, on the way to a call, on the way from a call, and of course, on the call.
DOCUMENTATION
What should good, high-quality documentation contain? What should it not? Does neatness really count? Can I lose a lawsuit just because my spelling or handwriting are poor? What does documentation say about the provider? What does documentation look like on a giant screen in court? How can poor documentation harm the patient? Why should field providers be concerned about billing documentation?
The answers to these questions will offer participants a new (or renewed) understanding and appreciation for their own documentation; what it says about them personally and professionally; how documentation affects patients in the long run, and how documentation can keep them out of trouble or cause BIG problems - whichever they choose by the way they document.
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
How should a provider handle a situation of ethical and professional duties owed by coworkers or themselves, but for which there may be no clear law or rule?
We will discuss questions of conscience, such as incompetence or malfeasance of coworkers and colleagues, the treatment of patience, family, and others in the community with dignity and respect - no matter their socio-economic, race, gender, age, or any other status.
So, You're Going to Court...
2-3 Hours
For most people, Court is an enigmatic and somewhat frightening place. For EMS Professionals, it can be hell.
This fun and very interactive program tries to pull the curtain back on the Wizard by unraveling some of the mystery of the courtroom and procedure.
Together we will learn to understand the language, the activity, and the [irritating] formalities.
We will discuss etiquete and fashion, process and procedure... then we will get to work.
Inasmuch as the other side lives to trip you up, we will discuss techniques for responding to questions and keeping cool when they turn up the heat.
Finally, we will practice techniques for giving testimony through a series of role-playing exercises.
You will have fun and probably get a good laugh. But when we are through, you will be more prepared for your time on the stand.
What should good, high-quality documentation contain? What should it not? Does neatness really count? Can I lose a lawsuit just because my spelling or handwriting are poor? What does documentation say about the provider? What does documentation look like on a giant screen in court? How can poor documentation harm the patient? Why should field providers be concerned about billing documentation?
Documentation Clinic
90 Minutes 
These questions and more are at the core of the Documentation Clinic.
In 90 minutes, providers will gain a new (or renewed) understanding and appreciation for their own documentation; what it says about them personally and professionally and how documentation can keep them out of trouble or cause BIG problems - whichever they choose by the way they document.
2 hours
EMS Providers are governed by a variety of laws, rules, protocols, 
and procedures with regard to duty and behavior. But what about the big picture? What about the ethical and professional duties owed by providers, but for which there may be no clear law or rule ?
This enlightening and informative program assumes that the audience knows the duties outlined in the various policy and procedure books and takes Professional Responsibility for EMS Providers a step further.
This program discusses questions of conscience, such as incompetence or malfeasance of coworkers and colleagues, the treatment of patients, family, and others in the community with dignity and respect - no matter their socio-economic, race, gender, age, or any other status.
This program teaches the basics with regard to duty, breach of duty, damages or injuries to others as a result, and the associated consequences.
Lastly, this program offers a valuable reminder to some who may have lost touch with what EMS providers do: Give life, give hope, and give opportunities where otherwise there may have been none.
This program is ideal for Base Hospital CE, in house refreshers, and instructional institutions.
General Principles of Negligence
90 Minutes
Duty, Breach, causation, and Damages... these are the essential elements for any negligence action. How do they apply in the EMS context? What should providers do if they find themselves in sticky situations?
This program offers the quick and dirty basics of what EMS Providers should know.
Injust 90 minutes, the group will touch briefly on the elements of negligence, with an emphasis of duty and causation.
Copyright . David Givot.
All rights reserved.
