Emergency Preparedness
The Pulitzer Prize winning article, The Deadly Choices at Memorial (link below) recounts the story of a Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans. Devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Memorial provides a somber lesson on the unique and complex challenges faced by a healthcare facility during a disaster. These challenges put lives at risk and force those involved to make difficult ethical decisions. I want you to think of the law as a proactive tool to prevent harm and as a tool for redressing harm caused by actions that are unethical or fail to meet a standard of care. Please answer the below: How should the law be used to prevent the type of trauma and loss of life experienced at Memorial? Give specific examples. How should the law be used to address the actions of medical staff that make ethically challenging decisions that result in the loss of life during a disaster? For example, what do you think of Dr. Pou and the other staff who administered drugs to hasten the deaths of patients?
