Car accident/medical emergency while carrying

[Fairfield_Glock]

I know there are a few LEO's and a lot of knowledgeable people on here so I had a queston. (I did a forum search here but couldn't find anything.)

Let's say that I am OC or CC, and I am involved in a car accident or medical emergency. How would the police deal with the firearm and what is the accountability/process for getting the weapon back once I'm out of the hospital? Will anybody notify me of the gun's location or do I have to play detective and track it down based on the agency that took the accident report?

I'm just thinking ahead since I would hate to lose a $600+ piece of property because it got lost in the shuffle. Thanks for the help.

[ByAnyMeans]

I am not LE or a EMs worker but I have had one encounter with this.
I was badly injured a few months ago. Police and EMs showed up and I was laying on the ground.
I told the EMS worker I had a pistol on my side in a holster. She said "no problem" and asked if a round was chambered. I said "yes" and she undid my belt and slid off the hoslter keeping the gun in the holster the whole time. She handed it off to a local cop on the scene who I saw put it into the bag in the holster, he then handed me his card.
The day after being released from the hospital I called the officer and made arraingments to meet him at the station. He had me sign a property log and handed me the bag with the gun still in the holster. Made some small talk and I was on my way.

[rnestved]

As a practicing medic, if you relay to me you are armed, or if I find a sidearm while examining you, I am going to SAFELY remove the holstered weapon from your belt and turn it over to the LEO on scene. As far as where it goes from there, I can not offer you any insight. The biggest concern is that the weapon remains holstered if at all possible, and is handled safely and its whereabouts tracked. If LEO was not available, (might not respond on a medical call), and it is not practical to leave the sidearm secured at the patient's home in an appropriate manner, I would secure it with me in the ambulance until the hospital is reached and would turn it over to the hospital security officer/hospital LEO for securing. I say this, if you are concious, and I dont forsee having to perform a therapy that could be hindered by your weapon (ie shocking your heart, etc), I see no reason the weapon could not remain safely on your side until reaching the hospital for placement in a temporary locker. Now, if your mindset is not normal (be it from a psychiatric or medical condition), or you are indicating you pose a threat, your not getting into the ambulance until a LEO is summoned to disarm you in a safe manner. On that note, you will probably wittness the crew backing out of the scene completely until LEO arrives so we can ensure our safety. The back of an ambulance is not an environment conducive to having an armed, unstable (mentally/psychiatrically) individual in close proximety to myself and my crew with little shielding and no real means of a safe egress. Hope this provides some insite for you.

[Fairfield_Glock]

Hope this provides some insite for you.

That was very informative, I appreciate it.

[Steve in PA]

The firearm is usually turned over to the responding LEO. The firearm will be logged in and the person can come and pick it up when they get out of the hospital.

I have personally been involved in several calls of this nature.

[Statkowski]

How about a variation on the theme? Serious accident, no police on scene, transport is immediately necessary. Handgun is secured in the ambulance for turnover to the hospital. So far, so good (not the accident, but you know what I mean). Now comes the kicker.

Accident takes place close to the New Jersey frontier. Nearest hospital is in New Jersey. That's where the ambulance, you and the firearm end up going. Being a free citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you don't have a New Jersey FOID card. Besides that, your firearm is loaded with evil hollow point bullets.

Now what happens? How do you legally get your firearm back to Pennsylvania once you're released from the hospital? Will you be arrested for concealed carry without a New Jersey license? Will you have to spend five years in prison for each and every hollow point bullet in your pistol?

[MrUgly]

I need to check, but I'm not sure PA rigs can go into NJ. Our protocols are different from theirs, my PA EMT cert means nothing in NJ, so at first blush, I don't see it happening. I'll ask at the station if I remember the next I am there.

Someone more knowledgeable than me may show up and counter what I have just said, so take this as an educated guess.

[Grizz2720]

I ran EMS for 28 yrs here in Wisconsin. The few times we had firearms at the seen they were turned over to the Sheriffs deputy, we documented it, and also made sure the owner knew what happened. In all cases the owner had no problem getting the firearm back.

[rnestved]

As far as PA rigs going into NJ, not likely unless the patient was critical/unstable and a NJ hospital is closer than a PA hospital or if they are stable and need a specialized service (like a trauma center), and a closer one in PA is not available (a stretch, but I guess possible as I am not familiar with that end of PA). We as PA EMS professionals are allowed to transport out of state, I have done this but usually to Maryland in my experience and possibly deleware (not myself personally but other crews) when coming from the far southern end of PA (like deep southern Lancaster county). Each department will have its own policies in regards to out of state transport. As far as if a law will be broken by taking a firearm on a rig to NJ, I can't comment knowledgeably on that. I would like to think that logic would prevail, but we are talking about NJ and their screwed logic.

[DonSmithnotTMD]

This happened to a guy at work. Went down as described above. No reason there should be a problem.