Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
An Orlando firefighter was fired today for recording part of an EMS run involving an elected official. Firefighter Joshua Granada reportedly admitted to using his cellphone to audio record part of a medical run involving City Commissioner Regina Hill.
WFTV quoted Hill as saying “If someone is called out to service (for) one of our residents, (it’s important) that they are protected, their rights are protected by the HIPAA law. I don’t think no one (sic) confidentiality should be broken.”
According to an Orlando Fire spokesperson, Granada’s termination was necessary because “Public trust is paramount to the service that we provide to the citizens and visitors of Orlando and the Orlando Fire Department will not tolerate violations of patient privacy.”
However, according to the firefighter’s union, Granada made the recording for his own protection because he saw “a scene deteriorating and a patient becoming belligerent toward the crew.”
Granada has 10 days to file a grievance over the termination.
How many policies are implicated by this one story?
- Secret Recording/Recording in The Workplace Policy
- Public Records/Record Retention Policy
- EMS/Medical Confidentiality
Remember the Gordon Graham – Lexipol motto: If it is predicable it is preventable.
