Patient privacy to be reviewed
FirefighterNation Staff
ST. LOUIS — KMOV4 reports that the St. Louis Fire Department is suspending filming of the A&E show ‘Live Rescue’ due to a federal investigation into patient privacy.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investigating the fire department over possible HIPAA violations.
A spokesperson for the city told KMOV4 that production has been suspended until the city can prove compliance.
The A&E show follows firefighters and paramedics from several cities on calls.
The St. Louis Fire Department has participated in two seasons and says it is under no obligation to do a third.
The city received notice from HHS citing media reports about likely not being in compliance.
Captain Garon Mosby says the show highlights the daily challenges faced by firefighters and paramedics and is valuable at a time when the department needs help with recruitment.
All patients on the show must give their consent to being
filmed and the fire chief watches the live feed and can cut anything deemed
inappropriate.
If consent is not given, the patient’s face is blurred.
The city issued a statement regarding patient privacy and filming,
“The St. Louis Fire Department takes patient privacy very seriously. We are proud of the professionalism of the men and women of our department and look forward to providing the Department of Health & Human Services with all the information it requires to document our compliance with HIPAA regulations. We have done the show for two seasons but are no currently under any obligation to do a third. Additionally, if we are in the persons private dwelling, that requires consent otherwise we don’t do it.”
HHS has given the fire department 20 days to respond to questions about patient privacy.
