Noctis Lucis Caelum
Forum Lieutenant
- 160
- 0
- 0
What are some of the Ethical issues in EMS today? Just curious on what are some people in each state other than CA have to say.
Ethical Issues in EMS today?
- Thread starter Noctis Lucis Caelum
- Start date
LucidResq
Forum Deputy Chief
- 2,031
- 3
- 0
Just look what's going on in Florida and MA. This is an all too common type of problem all over the country.
WolfmanHarris
Forum Asst. Chief
- 802
- 101
- 43
Hardly.
Some theories/concepts to familiarize yourself with:
- utilitarianism
- kantian ethics
- ethical egoism
- Aristotle's "Ethics"
- objective/subjective morality
- divine source morality
This should provide a good starting point. Then compare and contrast these theories with professional ethics, or ethical codes.
Within health care we have taken certain concepts and assigned them importance for doing our job in a way that we as a collective group have determined to be ethical. This includes ideas of:
- autonomy
- beneficience
- non-maleficence
Which as guiding principles have placed ideas of
- confidentiality
- informed consent
- honesty
- professional distance
and many others at the forefront of how we define ethical behaviour within healthcare.
That being said, EMS education in general (and technical schools and medic mills in particular) have done a piss poor job of teaching ethics as anything more than a set of rules to be followed without true understanding. As a result ethical thought is not given the emphasis it deserves as a key type of critical thinking vital to caring for patients and being given a position of trust. Furthermore when taught by those without a thorough understanding themselves, it either gets turned into a rigid set of rules or is watered down into a touchy feely nothingness where personal belief and feelings equal or trump professional obligation. That is, if it is taught at all.
So you ask what I think current ethical issues in EMS are? Deficient education in ethics for EMS providers would be the one I think would apply most across jurisdictions. More specific issues such as consent in research, issues of abandonment or system abuse, or negligent care as an ethical issue can probably be traced to be symptoms of this larger problem (among other causes).