Making difficult ethical decisions in patient care during natural disasters and other mass casualty events

摘要

Recent experiences in the United States with unprecedented terrorist attacks (9/11) and a devastating natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina) have demonstrated that the medical care of mass casualties during such disasters poses ethical problems not normally experienced in civilian health care. It is important to 1) identify the unique ethical challenges facing physicians who feel an obligation to care for victims of such disasters and 2) develop a national consensus on ethical guidelines as a resource for ethical decision making in medical disaster relief.