Patient Confidentiality

[doodonk]

Any help on where to find a good source on how much to release to the press. How much is too much? Can you say there was an amputation, do you leave it as an appendage injury? After a big call, what do you tell the press?

[Weruj1]

have you had or heard of any HIPAA training ? search the EMS general forum for HIPAA ............should be most benefical.

[SkipKirkwood]

The key is not to release the identity of the patient(s). It probably isn't very helpful to discuss specific injuries either, because your "diagnosis" will often be different from what is finally determined at the hospital. I don't mention body parts or injury classifications - just things like "did not appear life-threatening."

For a good textbook, see Public and Media Relations for the Fire Service, by Tim Birr. Available from Amazon.com or Fire Engineering.

SKip