The human body is an ideal training tool, but fire/EMS training protocols and the law must be followed

Not only was it wrong, it was potentially criminal. That is the first thing I have to say in response to the report about the Bellingham (Wa.) Fire Department crew who took a deceased patient to Fire Station 1, ostensibly to await pickup from a funeral home, and allowed several department members to practice intubations on the body.

Under Washington law:

“Any person, not authorized or directed by the coroner or medical examiner or their deputies, who removes the body of a deceased person not claimed by a relative or friend, or moves, disturbs, molests, or interferes with the human remains coming within the jurisdiction of the coroner or medical examiner as set forth in RCW 68.50.010, to any undertaking rooms or elsewhere, or any person who knowingly directs, aids, or abets such unauthorized moving, disturbing, molesting, or taking, and any person who knowingly conceals the human remains, shall in each of said cases be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.”

Clearly, under Washington law, moving a body and using it – without any type of consent – for training purposes is enough to send each participant to jail. But should any of the personnel involved go to jail? I don’t think so. However, the opinion that matters is that of the prosecutor, and prosecutors are not known for infusing subjectivity, compassion or non-criminal-intentions into decisions about who gets charged in criminal court. If there is a law and the law is broken, they will prosecute you, no matter who you are or what your job is.

Read the rest HERE