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Ethical Issues in Disasters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2011

Fatimah Lateef
Fatimah Lateef*
Affiliation:
Senior Consultant, Emergency Medicine and Trauma, Director of Undergraduate Training and Education, Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital; Senior Clinical Lecturer, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Senior Part-Time Lecturer, School of Health Sciences, Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore
*
Correspondence: Associate Professor Fatimah Lateef Dept of Emergency MedicineSingapore General Hospital1 Hospital DriveOutram RoadSingapore 169608 E-mail: fatimah.abd.lateef@sgh.com.sg
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Abstract

A disaster is a situation that overwhelms the local population’s capacity to respond, thus necessitating a request for assistance from outside the impacted area. In these circumstances, needs usually outweigh resources. The objective of response is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people (the utilitarian principle). As such, some unique ethical considerations will arise that are not seen in day-to-day practice.

The adoption of medical ethics principles is important in such situations, but certain provisions must be accepted. In large-scale, complex disasters, it may be impossible to provide optimal care to each patient. This paper will discuss some of the challenges for healthcare personnel at “ground zero”, how training in preventive ethics may help, and what principles can be applied when working in disaster-affected areas or when responding to disasters.

Keywords

autonomydisasterduty to careethicsutilitarian
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , August 2011 , pp. 289 - 292
Copyright
Copyright Lateef © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2011

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