[JoeRed]

“But that’s something a truck driver knows going into the job. It’s implied consent. For everyone else, the Fourth Amendment applies.”

The patient is a commercial truck driver who was operating a semi truck when the accident occurred. The other driver died. The situation required that a blood test be taken. The nurse refused to allow the blood test and was arrested. She resisted arrest.

[Leaning Right]

> The patient is a commercial truck driver who was operating a semi truck when the accident occurred. <

Ah, that’s a most interesting point! If (and that’s a big if) the driver falls under the federal law you referenced, then it was the cop’s responsibility to make that clear to the nurse.

If someone is to be arrested, that person has the right to know exactly what law he broke.

This was not an emergency situation. That cop’s order went against everything that nurse was trained to do. An explanation - including a call to her supervisor - would have gone a long way.

Unfortunately, the cop chose brute force instead.

[caligatrux]

The patient is a commercial truck driver who was operating a semi truck when the accident occurred. The other driver died. The situation required that a blood test be taken.

Assuming that is true, and assuming there is a federal law requiring such under these circumstances, then you have a point.

However, as far as I can tell from the video, that point was never made to her or anyone else at the hospital. The nurse was simply following the orders of her bosses and the hospital's policy.

The nurse refused to allow the blood test and was arrested. She did not refuse to "allow" the blood test, she refused to do the blood test. It is one thing for a cop to force a private citizen to step aside and not interfere with the cop while the cop does his job. It is an entirely different thing for a cop to force a licensed medical professional to perform a medical procedure when that professional's hospital policy and administrator are telling her that is not authorized. It puts her career in jeopardy, as well as potentially subjects her to civil damages.

Arresting her was utterly useless. It did nothing to advance his goals of getting the blood test, unless somehow he then used it to bully some other nurse into drawing the blood.

Under those circumstances, it is a significant stretch to suggest that she was committing a crime by refusing to undertake what she thought was an illegal, unauthorized and unnecessary medical procedure based solely on the word of a cop when every other authority was telling her not to, and the cop was not citing any other authority.

Obstructing justice means refusing to obey the lawful commands of an officer. All the evidence being presented to her was that this officer's command was not legal, and would potentially subject her to personal liability and career harm.

[kaila]

There is so much wrong in this story, the cop should be fired and the nurse win a settlement.
1. When you are a patient in the hospital, the hospital will follow the law. That means a warrant for a blood draw. Otherwise, there are severe HIPAA violations and the hospital will be sued and the nurse will lose her license.
2. If there was a probable cause to obtain the blood, it would be easy for them to call a judge and get the warrant. The fact that they did not means they did not have probable cause. I would think that if there is a law stating that truck drivers need their blood drawn, it most likely would be when they are on work time. For all you know, he may not have been on the work clock at the time of the accident.
3. Some of you criticized her for screaming. If you had your arm twisted to your back, that would hurt. They were rough with her .
4. By forcing an ICU nurse off the floor , they endangered other patients by short staffing the unit.
This cop needs to be fired.

[shotgun]

So the cops are the agents of the USDOT now too?

I just love how the cops can remain silent after they violate the law or screw up (most recent example is the Minnesota muslim lady killer cop) but for you me, we must answer all questions and give immediate consent or get arrested for it.

[cornfedcowboy]

Pretty tough for for someone to violate implied consent when they are unconscious. If he doesn’t consent he suffers a penalty. Well, he wasn’t able to make a decision. Wouldn’t it also be required to suspect the driver of a crime?

[cornfedcowboy]

Pretty tough for for someone to violate implied consent when they are unconscious. If he doesn’t consent he suffers a penalty. Well, he wasn’t able to make a decision. Wouldn’t it also be required to suspect the driver of a crime?

[cornfedcowboy]

What a great solution to the problem. Arrest the nurse. That will work.