You make the call...17 year old mother...What happened

First, get up to speed HERE

In this particular situation, where I was working, the mother was not legally allowed to make medical decisions for herself because of the rigid requirements of declaration of an emancipated minor. This has since changed in that jurisdiction, mainly I think because of the increase of teen pregnancy and the situation became more of the rule than the exception.

Oddly enough, even though we were on the phone to have her mother to come and get her, she was legally able to refuse transport on behalf of her biological child. Granted we weren't running her DNA in the street, but you can tell when a mother is the mother of a child and when something doesn't seem right. And this seemed right.

So there you have it, the confused EMS legal statutes of Happy Medic's history.

If you said anything at all that complies with your protocols, you made the right call.

Comments