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Ethical Issues in the Response to Ebola Virus Disease in United States Emergency Departments: A Position Paper of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Emergency Nurses Association, and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Author(s) -
Venkat Arvind,
Asher Shellie L.,
Wolf Lisa,
Geiderman Joel M.,
Marco Catherine A.,
McGreevy Jolion,
Derse Arthur R.,
Otten Edward J.,
Jesus John E.,
Kreitzer Natalie P.,
Escalante Monica,
Levine Adam C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
academic emergency medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.221
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1553-2712
pISSN - 1069-6563
DOI - 10.1111/acem.12642
Subject(s) - medicine , ebola virus , emergency department , health care , outbreak , presentation (obstetrics) , public health , medical emergency , emergency medical services , disease , family medicine , emergency medicine , nursing , virology , pathology , economics , radiology , economic growth
The 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease ( EVD ) in West Africa has presented a significant public health crisis to the international health community and challenged U.S. emergency departments ( ED s) to prepare for patients with a disease of exceeding rarity in developed nations. With the presentation of patients with Ebola to U.S. acute care facilities, ethical questions have been raised in both the press and medical literature as to how U.S. ED s, emergency physicians ( EP s), emergency nurses, and other stakeholders in the health care system should approach the current epidemic and its potential for spread in the domestic environment. To address these concerns, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Emergency Nurses Association, and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine developed this joint position paper to provide guidance to U.S. EP s, emergency nurses, and other stakeholders in the health care system on how to approach the ethical dilemmas posed by the outbreak of EVD . This paper will address areas of immediate and potential ethical concern to U.S. ED s in how they approach preparation for and management of potential patients with EVD .