Maryland DUI Medical Attention
After a car accident, regardless of a person’s state of impairment or intoxication, local law enforcement will need to provide medical assistance. A delay in administering medical assistance can seriously affect a person’s coherence, thus a DUI stops attorney can bring up failure to provide medical aid as a defense in a case.
When a person is experiencing medical issues after a DUI, those issues need to be addressed by receiving prompt Maryland medical attention. Hopefully, their condition will not get worse. The medical attention could potentially save the person’s life.
When Does Law Enforcement Provide Medical Attention?
When a person is arrested for a DUI in Maryland, the circumstances of the case will determine when medical attention is given. The most common situation in which medical attention is given to someone is when they are involved in an accident. If there is a car accident and the person has visible injuries, an officer will immediately provide them with medical attention to address those injuries.
In some situations, a person can be so intoxicated that they are completely incoherent or unconscious. Providing medical attention is appropriate under those circumstances. At other times when detention is required, there may be a situation where a person states that they need medical attention.
The individual may suffer from pains that are not visible to the officer, such as shortness of breath or incoherence. The person may inform the officer that they suffer from conditions such as high blood pressure or heart ailments that are being exacerbated by the stress of the situation. An officer might be inclined to provide the person with medical attention at that stage.
How a Police Officer Tells if Medical Attention is Required
Police officers determine if a person needs medical attention based on a variety of factors. The officer uses anything they observe such as injuries, actions, or a person who is unconscious to determine that a person needs medical attention. The individual may inform the officer that they are experiencing shortness of breath or are suffering from medical issues. These are things that an officer uses to determine that the individual needs medical attention. The person’s medical issues take priority over any information or evidence collected for DUI purposes.
What to Do About Lack of Medical Treatment
Medical attention may have a great deal to do with the facts of the particular DUI case. The results from a Field Sobriety Test may be skewed for a person who suffers from certain medical conditions. The results of their Breathalyzer test or blood test may be distorted because of the person’s medical condition or any medication they take.
A DUI attorney in Maryland uses this information to assist the person with a defense that generates reasonable doubt or directly contradicts any testimony the state employs to address the intoxication levels they are trying to use against the person in criminal court.
Using Lack of Medical Attention as a Defense
When a person does not receive the necessary medical attention, their responses during the course of an arrest are affected. They may be unable to respond correctly to an officer’s command to take a Field Sobriety Test or follow other instructions. These circumstances could be used in court to contradict any evidence for lack of cooperation or a person’s performance of the Field Sobriety Test.
Additionally, when a person does not receive medical attention, their ability to perform a Breathalyzer test or a blood test might be affected. This could be used by the defense attorney in court.
Refusing Medical Attention
A person is permitted to refuse medical attention. However, when an officer believes the person is not capable of giving consent because they are too intoxicated or are not lucid enough to make those decisions for themselves, the officer will call for medical attention. The officer may call for an ambulance or some other assistance so that medical professionals can make the decision even if the person refuses medical treatment.
Occasionally, if the injuries are not too serious, it might be prudent to refuse medical attention. Sometimes the medical attention requires an individual to go to the hospital where they may be forced to submit to a blood test. This could yield results of intoxication or identify other things in a persons’ system that could be used against them in court to try to prove a DUI case against them.
A person’s life and well-being always take priority. A person should not refuse medical attention simply to avoid evidence being taken against them if they truly need medical assistance.
Contact Us About Medical Attention and Maryland DUIs
A person who receives medical attention after a DUI arrest should contact a DUI attorney. First, medical records are very complicated to read and understand, and the information in those medical records must be properly admissible in court for the information to be used for or against them.
Only a lawyer who understands the rules of evidence can make proper arguments in court to have those pieces of information admitted on a person’s behalf successfully. Call today to learn more.