Receiving Medical Attention After a DUI in DC

Whenever the police encounter someone who appears to be in need of medical attention, the police are required to ensure the person has the opportunity to receive that medical attention. This situation may occur in a DUI arrest situation when the police arrive at the scene of an accident and in their investigation of that accident, they determine that one or more of the drivers involved was operating their vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

If you were in need of medical attention at the time of your DC DUI charge and were not given such care, it is important to contact a DC DUI lawyer to help determine if such negligence could impact your DUI case.

Determining Medical Attention

Before the officers complete any kind of booking process, the first responders/EMTs determine whether the person needs medical attention. The EMTs transport the person in custody to the hospital. When it is apparent at the scene that there are injuries; the injured parties are transported to the hospital by EMTs or DC fire personnel.

When there are no apparent injuries at the scene, the police may take an individual to the hospital to receive medical treatment if it becomes apparent during the course of the DC DUI stop that the driver is in need of medical attention.

Sometimes in an accident, a person is injured; other times a person had too much alcohol or drugs and the police are concerned about their well-being. Although not prevalent, sometimes a person being arrested or investigated may be injured in their interaction with the police. For example, if they are trying to resist arrest or are involved in a confrontation with the police, they might be injured. The police are required to make sure that the person receives adequate medical attention.

Refusing Medical Attention

When a person does not appear to have any serious injury that requires immediate medical attention, only minor injuries such as bumps and bruises, they can refuse to receive medical attention. If the person is deemed to be too intoxicated to make an informed voluntary decision; the fire department personnel brings in a supervisor to make the determination about the person’s ability to make that decision.

Contacting a Lawyer

Anyone charged with a DUI should contact an attorney who is experienced in handling DUI cases in the District of Columbia. When there is a situation where the person needed medical attention and did not receive it in their DC DUI case, that issue must be addressed.

That is why a person wants to have an experienced DUI attorney who can ensure that the proper procedures are followed by the police departments in the District of Columbia as well as DC EMT and fire departments. A person needs an attorney who knows what to look for and how to use the information for the client’s best benefit.

Impact on a Defense

The fact that someone needed medical attention during their DC DUI case can be a big factor in building a defense because the police base much of their case against the driver in a DUI case on their appearance of sobriety and how they do on field sobriety tests. When someone needs medical attention, they may fail a field sobriety test or appear to have balance issues that have nothing to do with the alcohol or drug impairment.

Their failure to pass field sobriety tests has to do with the fact that they needed medical attention during their DC DUI case. Whenever someone is in need of medical attention during the course of a DUI investigation; it becomes a critical factor. If a person does not receive medical attention; that can demonstrate that the police officers did not follow the correct procedures. The situation brings their judgment in the case into question. If the individual suffers some form of

If the individual suffers some form of long-term or serious medical consequences because of law enforcement’s lack of attention to their medical needs, there could be a civil lawsuit filed against the police department for their negligence in failing to treat that individual.

Importance of Care

When someone needs medical attention during their DC DUI case, they should get that attention as soon as possible. Attorneys can handle the DUI case, but a person who needs medical attention should get that attention.

There are tests that the police may want to conduct on an individual that are different from getting medical attention. When an individual is taken to the hospital, the police may ask the person to submit to urine or blood tests to use against the individual in a criminal case. To the extent that the person can say no, they might consider doing so depending upon whether or not they have drugs or alcohol in their system. However, that is a separate issue.

Generally, if someone needs medical attention, they should get that medical attention and let the lawyer deal with the factual situation. If the person needed medical attention, that could call into question the police officers alleged observations of impairment.