A description that introduces policies developed in Units

III: "The purpose of the HIPAA law was to protect patients from misusing their personal information. There are, however, situations where sharing health information outside of a facility could violate HIPAA. As a result, paramedics should stop sending patient information to nurses to protect patient's privacy."

and

IV : "Under FMLA, the Fire District adopted this policy.

Establish knowledge that all Fire Department employees clearly understand the requirements for taking FMLA and the reasons for leave. Also, this policy contains the process for returning to work after FMLA leave."

The policies developed were to reduce liability and enhance operations for fire and emergency service organizations, briefly address the purpose of the policies and answer any anticipated questions or concerns regarding discipline if the policies are not adhered to. Describe any potential litigation concerns due to the new policy/policies. It should be equally divided into the policy introduction and anticipated questions.

To help you anticipate one or two questions on discipline, consider what coffee table chatter would occur in your organization after introducing a new policy if people disagree with the procedure. Think about fire and emergency service personnel receiving discipline, reassignment, or retraining of the individual employee whose actions contributed to violating the policy in your organization. Examples of litigation concerning the field that have occurred in other fire and emergency service organizations can be found in the textbook, the library, and the Internet to support your discussion.