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Resuscitation Technology in the Emergency Department: Towards a Dignified Death
Author(s) -
Timmermans Stefan
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.00095
Subject(s) - blame , emergency department , resuscitation , medical emergency , medicine , health care , face (sociological concept) , health technology , nursing , psychology , sociology , political science , emergency medicine , psychiatry , law , social science
Social scientists and ethicists often blame the increased use of advanced medical technologies for the undignified character of contemporary dying. Based on ethnographic material and in‐depth interviews with health‐care providers, I analyse how resuscitation technology shapes sudden death in emergency departments. First, I examine the extent to which the course of resuscitative efforts is a consequence of technological factors or of health care system characteristics. Second, I look at how resuscitation technologies indirectly offer an opportunity to face pending death. In the last part, I investigate how this opportunity can be fostered when the emergency department staff takes the needs of relatives and friends into consideration.