A national physician on-call data center where hospital on-call lists are published and categorized by location would be of great value in locating the appropriate available hospital and physician.
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ACEP Now: Vol 43 – No 06 – June 2024—Curtis Brown, MD. FACEP
Who is liable when the ED is over capacity, boarders (admitted but not bedded) are using ED space and staff, and a patient is alleged to have come to harm?
In these circumstances, I submit the emergency physician should be held harmless. One should not be liable for those things one does not control (e.g., personnel and hours, physical assets, and the budget to operate them).
This can be done at ACEP by creating a policy. Properly written, this may provide some defense to those putting themselves out there for the public good. We deserve protection, not thoughts and prayers.
—Thomas Benzoni, DO, FACEP
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