- An EMT says she was fired after disabling patient-facing ambulance cameras.
- Lawsuit alleges patients were recorded without their knowledge or consent.
- The case could shape future rules for surveillance inside emergency vehicles.
Some stories don’t have a clear black-and-white ending. This latest lawsuit involving a fired EMT and her former employer may be one of them. According to the plaintiff, the ambulance she was working in allegedly recorded patients without their knowledge or consent. According to the ambulance company, those cameras were there to help protect the EMTs and paramedics working inside. From there, everything gets messy.
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Former Metro West Ambulance EMT Brittany Martin has filed an $800,000 lawsuit alleging she was fired after disabling cameras and microphones inside company ambulances because she believed they violated Oregon’s privacy laws. Martin claims the systems captured both video and audio of patients receiving care without their consent. According to EMS1, Metro West has declined to comment publicly because the litigation is ongoing.
The Recordings At The Center Of The Case
According to the complaint, Metro West began installing the cameras in late 2025 as part of what employees were told was a test program. Some patients can become violent during transport, and no doubt, video evidence could help workers in those cases. Martin says workers were initially informed that patients would be video recorded but not audio recorded. However, after being assigned to ambulances equipped with the new system in early 2026, she alleges the cameras were recording both.
The lawsuit claims one camera was mounted in the crew compartment and pointed directly at patients, while another was installed inside the patient compartment itself. Believing the recordings violated Oregon privacy law, Martin says she disabled the systems and reported her concerns to supervisors. Within days, she alleges she was placed on administrative leave before ultimately being terminated for what she says was interfering with the cameras.
The Bigger Privacy Question
Legal experts interviewed by The Oregonian note that the state has some of the nation’s strictest recording laws. If the allegations prove accurate, recording audio and video inside patient compartments without notifying patients could violate state law. Even with notification, they say significant ethical and legal questions remain.
Regardless of how the lawsuit ends, it highlights a bigger issue facing increasingly connected vehicles. As more cameras find their way into work trucks, police cruisers, delivery vans, and ambulances, courts may soon have to decide where legitimate operational oversight ends and personal privacy begins. For now, Martin’s lawsuit is a warning that what happens in the back of an ambulance may not stay private.
