Sixth Annual Emergency Medical Services Symposium

Participants in this program (in person and virtual) are entitled to one (1) Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education (CLE) substantive credit for each segment attended for a maximum of six (6) credits (five substantive, one ethics). EMS continuing education credits have also been applied for; please let the registration desk know of your interest in receiving these if approved.

Questions: [email protected]

Widener Law Commonwealth will host the Sixth Annual Emergency Medical Services Symposium on Thursday, November 7th, 2024. This program is co-sponsored by the Widener Law Commonwealth Law and Government Institute, Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, LLC, the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute.

The 2024 Widener Law Commonwealth Annual EMS Law and Policy Symposium is focused on issues of national significance in the provision of emergency medical services to ill or injured persons in the custody of law enforcement. EMS and law enforcement agencies most often work closely together in a manner that benefits the public, but recent high-profile national cases involving the deaths of individuals in custody raise important legal questions regarding medical control of a law enforcement scene, the rights of persons in custody to receive necessary emergency care, and the potential civil and criminal liability of both police and EMS responders. This year’s Symposium will address the medical civil rights of persons in custody requiring emergency health care, and the emerging legal obligation of police and EMS agencies to work together to ensure that emergency medical care is provided competently and promptly

A Zoom link will be provided to virtual registrants via an email from Eventbrite.

AGENDA

8:00 am Registration and Coffee

8:30 am Welcome and Introduction

andré douglas pond cummings, Dean, Widener University Commonwealth Law School

Christian Johnson, Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School

8:35 am - Address by Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry 94’

8:50 am

8:50 am - Address by Governor Josh Shapiro (Invited)

9:00 am

9:00 am - Case Studies: Preventing Future Failures of Accountability in EMS and Law

10:15 am Enforcement Interactions

Douglas M. Wolfberg, Esq., 96’ Founding Partner, Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, LLC and Adjunct Professor, Widener University Commonwealth Law School

10:15 am Break

10:30 am - The Medical Civil Rights Initiative – Closing the Statutory Gap in Accountability

Noon Leonore Dluhy, Director, Medical Civil Rights Initiative

Noon Buffet Lunch

12:30 pm - Litigation Perspectives from the Elijah McClain Case

1:45 pm Prosecution and/or Defense Counsel from Elijah McClain Case - TBD

1:45 Break

2:00 pm - The Law Enforcement Perspective

3:00 pm Frank Johnson, Senior Director, Community Law Enforcement Liaison, Walmart, and former Chief of Police, Fayetteville, Arkansas

3:00 pm - Panel Discussion – the Legal Ethics of Integrating EMS, Law Enforcement and

4:00 pm the Law

Panelists TBD

4:00 pm Conclusion

Professor Christian A. Johnson

Host or Publisher Widener University Commonwealth Law School