Ethics, DNRs, and Suicides
Ethics is defined by Oxford Dictionary as the “moral principle that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity.” EMTs, similarly to other organizations, both inside and outside the health care profession, are expected to conduct themselves by a certain code of ethics. The code of Ethics and EMT Oath, which are a set of ethical guidelines created for EMTs, clearly states that one of the primary duties of a EMTs is, “To converse life, alleviate suffering, promote health, do no harm . . . (NAEMT.com). Even though it seems like duty and ethics to go hand and hand there are still instances that produce a disconnect between the two, creating ethical dilemmas for EMTs. DNRs, or do-not-resuscitate are legal …show more content…
One of the questions of the survey asked was, “What are the most troubling dilemmas in prehospital care that you have experienced?” 21% of the 400 EMT participants answered that the most troubling dilemmas “were conflicts involving do-not-resuscitate (DNR) situations. (Ethical Dilemmas in Emergency Medical Services: The Perspective of Emergency Medical Technician). This percentage is hardly surprising when considering the potentially complicated nature of DNRs. DNRs are complicated enough issues but add in suicides in relation to DNRs and it creates an ethical dilemma. “This circumstance provokes the classic dilemma, where the ethical wishes of rescuers to act for the good of their patient’s beneficence, run counter to the individual’s autonomous wishes expressed in the DNR order” (Ethics of Emergency …show more content…
In the survey mentioned above most EMTs expressed the need for further education in relation to problems that arise in out-of-hospital care, “EMTs requested better dissemination of EMS system policies and procedures, so that a defined approach too many potential conflicts would be better understood.” (Ethical Dilemmas in Emergency Medical Services: The perspective of the Emergency Medical Technician). Education may help to define the specific guideline for EMTs in the case of DNRs and suicide it will never be able to create a simple answer for such a complex and debated question. “Until this issue is further resolved at a policy and statutory level paramedics and other per-hospital care providers summoned will continue to find themselves in an ethical dilemmas regarding resuscitative efforts DNRs and suicide” (EMS, suicide and the out-of-hospital DNR order). EMTs are placed in the precarious position between ethics and duty. EMTs are expected to act in the interest of their patients yet a EMTs must also obey a professional code of ethics. Sometimes, ethics and duty run counter to one another as seen in cases of DNR and
Ethics is defined by Oxford Dictionary as the “moral principle that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity.” EMTs, similarly to other organizations, both inside and outside the health care profession, are expected to conduct themselves by a certain code of ethics. The code of Ethics and EMT Oath, which are a set of ethical guidelines created for EMTs, clearly states that one of the primary duties of a EMTs is, “To converse life, alleviate suffering, promote health, do no harm . . . (NAEMT.com). Even though it seems like duty and ethics to go hand and hand there are still instances that produce a disconnect between the two, creating ethical dilemmas for EMTs. DNRs, or do-not-resuscitate are legal …show more content…
One of the questions of the survey asked was, “What are the most troubling dilemmas in prehospital care that you have experienced?” 21% of the 400 EMT participants answered that the most troubling dilemmas “were conflicts involving do-not-resuscitate (DNR) situations. (Ethical Dilemmas in Emergency Medical Services: The Perspective of Emergency Medical Technician). This percentage is hardly surprising when considering the potentially complicated nature of DNRs. DNRs are complicated enough issues but add in suicides in relation to DNRs and it creates an ethical dilemma. “This circumstance provokes the classic dilemma, where the ethical wishes of rescuers to act for the good of their patient’s beneficence, run counter to the individual’s autonomous wishes expressed in the DNR order” (Ethics of Emergency …show more content…
In the survey mentioned above most EMTs expressed the need for further education in relation to problems that arise in out-of-hospital care, “EMTs requested better dissemination of EMS system policies and procedures, so that a defined approach too many potential conflicts would be better understood.” (Ethical Dilemmas in Emergency Medical Services: The perspective of the Emergency Medical Technician). Education may help to define the specific guideline for EMTs in the case of DNRs and suicide it will never be able to create a simple answer for such a complex and debated question. “Until this issue is further resolved at a policy and statutory level paramedics and other per-hospital care providers summoned will continue to find themselves in an ethical dilemmas regarding resuscitative efforts DNRs and suicide” (EMS, suicide and the out-of-hospital DNR order). EMTs are placed in the precarious position between ethics and duty. EMTs are expected to act in the interest of their patients yet a EMTs must also obey a professional code of ethics. Sometimes, ethics and duty run counter to one another as seen in cases of DNR and