Ethical dilemmas can create moral distress in even the most experienced emergency physicians (EPs). Following reasonable and justified approaches can help alleviate such distress. The purpose of this article is to guide EPs providing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) direction to navigate through common ethical issues confronted in the prehospital delivery of care, including protecting privacy and confidentiality, decision-making capacity and refusal of treatment, withholding of treatment, and termination of resuscitation (TOR). This requires a strong foundation in the principles and theories underlying sound ethical decisions that EPs and prehospital providers make every day in good faith, but will now also make with more awareness and conscientiousness.

BrennerJM, AsweganAL, VearrierLE, BasfordJB, IsersonKV. The Ethics of Real-Time EMS Direction: Suggested Curricular Content. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):201–212.

Introduction: Pre-hospital telecommunication (patches) requires a special type of conversation. Receiving and processing correct information is critical when making clinical decisions, such as a termination of resuscitation (ToR). In a study of radio patches, a common patch structure emerged from the data analysis. Use of this standard structure resulted in shorter and less confusing patches. We sought to understand patch structure to be able to target interventions to improve the quality and efficiency of communication needed for critical clinical decisions. Methods: We undertook a retrospective analysis of all ToR patches between physicians and paramedics from 4 paramedic services, recorded by the Ambulance Dispatch Centre between Jan 01-Dec 31, 2014. Four services used Primary Care Paramedics and 1 service also used Advanced Care Paramedics. MP3 patch recording files were anonymized, transcribed, and read multiple times by the authors. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using mixed methods-quantitative descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic framework analysis. Results: The data set was 127 ToR patches-466 pages of transcripts. 116 patches (91.3%) had a standard structure (SS): participant introduction, clinical data presentation, clarification of data, making the decision, exchange of administrative information, and sign off. Paramedics used a mean of 81 words (95CI 74,88) to present the ‘clinical data’. Enough data was presented to meet ToR rule criteria in 52 cases (44.8%). Before making a decision to terminate resuscitation, physicians sought clarification in 100 cases (78.7%). After making the ToR decision, some physicians needed to justify their decision by seeking more data in 17 cases (13.4%). Exchange of non-clinical information (numbers, times, name spellings) took a mean of 200 words (95CI 172,228) and averaged 84 seconds or 35% of the average patch time. SS patches used a mean of 558 words, and lasted 234 sec (95CI 215,252). Non-SS patches used a mean of 654 words and lasted 286 sec (95CI 240,332). Conclusion: The most common patch structure consisted of participant introduction, data presentation, clarification of data, making the clinical decision, exchange of administrative information, and a sign off. Deviation from this SS resulted in longer patches. When a non-SS patch structure was used, the patching paramedic was tied up 25% longer and unavailable to provide patient care.

The benefits of emergency lights and sirens (L&S) use as warning devices by ambulances continue to be a debated topic in Emergency Medical Services (EMS). While the most widely studied aspect of L&S use has been related to their effect on ambulance response and transport times, the literature suggests minimal time savings with more questionable impact on actual patient outcomes. As L&S use has been shown to increase the risk for vehicle crashes, the secondary concern of ambulance design and safety also becomes an important aspect on potential design recommendations that could mitigate the effects of a crash on patients, EMS providers, and the general public. The least studied aspect of L&S use (and probably the most important) is their effect on patient outcomes and quality of medical care during transport. The current evidence suggests no significant improvement on patient outcomes and potential worsening to certain aspects of patient care during transport. The purpose of this review was to examine the current literature regarding ambulance L&S use and the risks they pose to EMS providers, patients, and the general public. In doing so, it will provide sound background for EMS leaders to better develop policies governing the use of L&S by ambulances and promote better research in the patient outcomes effect associated with their use. This review offers some strategies in mitigating the risks associated with L&S use, such as ways to reduce their overall use and modifying other related factors to emergency medical vehicle collisions (EMVCs).

MurrayB, KueR. The Use of Emergency Lights and Sirens by Ambulances and Their Effect on Patient Outcomes and Public Safety: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(2):209–216.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers face many ethical issues while providing prehospital care to children and adults. Although provider judgment plays a large role in the resolution of conflicts at the scene, it is important to establish protocols and policies, when possible, to address these high-risk and complex situations. This article describes some of the common situations with ethical underpinnings encountered by EMS personnel and managers including denying or delaying transport of patients with non-emergency conditions, use of lights and sirens for patient transport, determination of medical futility in the field, termination of resuscitation, restriction of EMS provider duty hours to prevent fatigue, substance abuse by EMS providers, disaster triage and difficulty in switching from individual care to mass-casualty care, and the challenges of child maltreatment recognition and reporting. A series of ethical questions are proposed, followed by a review of the literature and, when possible, recommendations for management.

BeckerTK, Gausche-HillM, AsweganAL, BakerEF, BookmanKJ, BradleyRN, De LorenzoRA, SchoenwetterDJ for the American College of Emergency Physicians’ EMS Committee. Ethical Challenges in Emergency Medical Services: Controversies and Recommendations. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(5):1-10.