steve817 wrote:AustinPC wrote:Dragonfighter wrote:Hospitals and fire-rescue departments in the metroplex have lock boxes, if you are sick or injured, you can inform the MICU crew that you are armed and designate who you want to pick it up. It then goes into a locked gun case and is carried to the hospital with you, the gun is then transferred to THEIR gun case by the PD at the hospital until the designated person comes and picks it up. If unconscious, the same thing happens but it is a little more complicated to prove you are the one to pick it up.
This is an inaccurate statement.
What would be an accurate statement?
Ambulance and/or MICU's (Paramedic Units) do not have lock boxes inside them that are designed to secure anything related to the patient, this includes securing firearms. While some MAY have a lock box on board designed to secure narcotics, these lock boxes are intended solely for that purpose and are not used to secure anything else. In the event a patient is found to have a weapon on or about their person, as in concealed carry or in their car, law enforcement, if not already on scene, will be requested to take possession of said weapon so they can secure it. If they are already on scene, they will still do this. Normally, these firearms will be taken to HQ or another substation and secured until the owner comes to pick it up. Not only is this standard operating procedue for most EMS systems, it will usually be policy of some type since they don't want to assume the liablity. In RARE circumstance where there is no time to wait, the firearm may be transported to the hospital with the crew but be aware it will more than likely be handled by someone with little to no experience with firearms.
Once at the hospital, law enforcement will be called to the hosptial to secure the firearm as described before. The hospital WILL NOT store the weapon for you while they wait for someone to pick it up. While it is true that some hospitals hire off-duty officers to work in the ER, these officers will still call an on-duty unit to show up and secure the firearm as described before. While hospitals do have means to secure valuables of patients, this does not include firearms. You can also expect your weapon to be handled by people with minimal experience at hospitals that only have security and no law enforcement.
Another consideration is that if you're armed, but alert and oriented, and able to make decisions for yourself, you will still be guilty of violating 30.06 if you're brought in by ambulance. Pain and suffering do not alter your ability to make decisions in this instance and so you could not use it as a defense.
So food for thought, if you ever get hurt, injured, sick, or anything else while carrying, you can expect to pick up your firearm at the nearest police substaion when you get out. If you still want to be transported by EMS, alert the crew and hand over your weapon to law enforcement when they get there, if you wait till your at the hospital, they'll definitly make a stink about it because they take it pretty serious. This is also why I search all my patients prior to bringing them into the ER.