Re: ambulance drive cams

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On 9/23/08, jerry wrote:
> My company recently installed drive cams in all of our
> ambulances. The company, located in central Pennsylvania,
> specifically insisted that the installation of the cameras
> was not Big Brother and that it would active only when an
> instance occured. They defined an instance as an accident,
> hard braking, or hard cornering. It has become obvious
> that the company is using the drivecam to monitor
> employees and seek disciplinary action against employees
> without the drive cam activating according to the
> companies definition. The drive cam also records audio. Is
> there a violation of privacy as the company is using the
> drivecams for purposes other than what was described to
> employees? Also, the interior camera can capture pictures
> of the patient compartment area with audio and patients
> are not made aware that they may be monitored. With the
> possibility of being in the ambulance for an entire 12
> hours shift and often working with the same partner, there
> is a good chance of private conversations taking place in
> the front compartment and it has become obvious that
> management may be monitoring these conversations. The
> front compartment of the ambulance may be considered a
> crew lounge as this may be the location you eat lunch and
> decompress as a crew may never have the opportunity to go
> anywhere else than the front compartment if they run alot
> of calls? I feel I have no privacy for an entire 12 hours
> as any cell phone call to my wife or private information
> with my partner may be unknowingly shared with management
> personnel.

If you did not give your permission to be recorded (audio),
there may be a privacy violation depending on your state
law. However, the company can likely demand your permission
or they will terminate your employment (unless you have an
employment contract already for a period of time).

The video is probably not a legal problem even if it happens
to capture an image of the patient. First responders in many
places now wear "helmet cams" that may incidentally capture
an image of a victim or patient. It is the subsequent use of
the images that would create a legal problem. Your company
could not give images to the press or an insurance company
without big trouble.

The audio is more of a problem when it comes to the patient
in the back. That is the only area of possible challenge I
see. You might want to bring that situation up to your
company.

Just some thoughts and not legal advice. If you plan on
making a challenge to your company you should talk to a local
attorney first.