WWW.HOMECAREPHYSICIANS.COM Should medical personnel give CPR to Ebola patients? The Ebola crisis has prompted a leading medical ethicist to raise an uncomfortable end-of-life question that doctors may have to address sooner than they would like: Should a medical team try to resuscitate an Ebola patient whose heart stops beating? The ethicist, Dr. Joseph J. Fins, says that the answer should be NO — that the risks of cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts are too great for health care workers and even for some Ebola patients whose heartbeat is restored. And he is urging a national debate on the question now — before doctors and nurses have to make a hasty decision when an emergency code for CPR is sounded. Health professionals are expected to try to revive patients in cardiac arrest when possible, unless a “do not resuscitate” order — arrived at after discussion with patients and families — is in their medical records. Dr. Fins said society must consider whether a blanket D.N.R. is justified for all Ebola patients, and, if so, at what stages of their illness. See more:nytimes/2014/10/21/health/-ethicist-calls-cpr-too-risky-in-ebola-.html?ref=health&_r=0
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 15:23:36 +0000
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