1. General Introduction -- 2. Unique Aspects of Ethics in Emergency Medicine -- 3. Legal Setting of Emergency Medicine -- 4. What is Ethics? -- 5. An Approach to Ethical Problems in Emergency Medicine -- 6. Autonomy and Informed Consent -- 7. Education and Research -- 8. Privacy and Confidentiality -- 9. Life-Sustaining Treatment - Emergency Department -- 10. Life-Sustaining Treatment - Prehospital -- 11. Professional Relations -- 12. Allocation of Health Care Resources -- 13. Quality of Care -- 14. Threatening Situations -- 15. Ethical Statements - Overview -- Appendix. Prehospital Advance Directives.

This book is designed to consolidate the relevant literature as well as the thoughts of professionals currently working in the field into a practical and accessible reference for the emergency medical technician, student, nurse, resident, and attending emergency physician. Each chapter is divided into four sections: case presentation, discussion, review of the current literature, and recommendations. Designed to serve simultaneously as a learning and reference tool, each chapter begins with a real case that was encountered in an ED setting. The case presentation is followed by a short discussion of the case, as if at a morbidity and mortality conference, by a panel of experienced attending physicians explaining how they would approach the ethical dilemmas associated with the case, and a review of the existing literature.

Leading scholars in bioethics and public health ethics clarify the key values and norms of emergency planning and response and address ethical issues relating to the allocation of scarce resources, research in the context of emergencies, community participation in preparedness planning, the protection of those with special needs, and the duties public health professionals.

Part of the "What Do I Do Now?: Emergency Medicine" series, Legal and Ethical Issues in Emergency Medicine uses a case-based approach to cover common and important topics in the legal and ethical dilemmas that surface in the practice of emergency medicine. Each unique case draws upon the four well-established principles of bioethics: beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice. Other ethical principles, such as honesty and personal integrity, are also addressed. Chapters are rounded out by key points to remember and selected references for further reading. Legal and Ethical Issues in Emergency Medicine addresses a wide range of topics including HIPPA and confidentiality, advance directives, suicidal patients, refusal of care, expert witness testimony, and more. This book is an engaging collection of thought-provoking cases which clinicians can utilize when they encounter difficult situations in the emergency department. The volume is also a self-assessment tool that tests the reader's ability to answer the question, "What do I do now?"

This book addresses the ethical problems that physicians have to face every day while caring for critically ill patients. Advances in medical technology, ageing societies worldwide, and their increased demands on health care systems have, on the one hand, led to better care and remarkable longevity in many parts of the world. On the other hand, however, improved treatments in many medical fields, amongst others in emergency and critical care, have resulted in more patients surviving with reduced quality of life. This entails tradeoffs for many patients, their families, and the teams caring for them. At the same time, health care expenditures have risen dramatically and have to be balanced against costs for other public goods. Finally, the humane aspects of care have often failed to keep pace with the remarkable technological strides made in recent years. In this book, experts in their respective fields describe compelling ethical challenges resulting from these discrepancies and discuss potential solutions. The book is primarily intended for clinicians who care for two of the most vulnerable patient subpopulations – those being treated in ambulances or emergency rooms, and those being treated at intensive care units – due in part to the fact that they may be temporarily or permanently incapacitated. Core medical skills, such as diagnosis and predicting outcomes, as well as implementing treatment, remain challenging. However, without adequate communication and collaboration both within the inter-professional treatment teams and between the teams and the patients/their families, delivering excellent care is difficult at best. Therefore, the so-called “soft skills” are given the attention they deserve in order to overcome the gap between technological progress and interpersonal standstill.

Emergencies are extreme events which threaten to cause massive disruption to society and negatively affect the physical and psychological well-being of its members. They raise important practical and theoretical questions about how we should treat each other in times of ’crisis’. The articles selected for this volume focus on the nature and significance of emergencies; ethical issues in emergency public policy and law; war, terrorism and supreme emergencies; and public health and humanitarian emergencies. Together they demonstrate the normative implications of emergencies and provide multi-disciplinary perspectives on the ethics of emergency response.

The emergency department is a place of challenging ethical dilemmas and little time and resources to solve them. Ethical Dilemmas in Emergency Medicine provides invaluable information, perspectives, and solutions to common ethical dilemmas in emergency medicine. It addresses important topics seen in the emergency department, including medicolegal issues, triage, privacy and confidentiality, social media, difficult patients, minors, research, patient safety, disasters, suicide, and end of life issues. The accompanying educational modules provide a unique educational opportunity for resident and staff education on ethical issues in emergency medicine. Featuring twenty-three case-based discussions of ethical dilemmas in emergency medicine along with numerous multimedia resources, including media presentations, case based discussions, and multiple choice questions, this book is an invaluable resource for residents in training as well as practicing physicians.