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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/12/2009 in all areas

  1. Man. Good question. Do I question their right to refuse treatment? No, not so much as I have the right secondary to implied consent. I've never known the wishes of an overdose, but if I did, without the direction of an attending physician, would not feel comfortable following them based on the fact that the overdose seems to signify an inability to maintain the reliable mentation necessary for such a decision. Exactly. No, but I once chose not to work an arrest that happened in front of me based on the patient's, reinforced by the family, wishes that he did not wish to be resuscitated. No DNR on scene, or even issued in fact. But see, this is where I seem to be a freak, in that I have less desire to defend myself than to I do to make the 'right' decision. In the arrest I mention above, I really had little defense had the family changed their stories afterward. I did make sure I had police witnesses to all statements but did not get them in writing. I couldn't tolerate the thought of removing his last opportunity to exercise his personal power. This PCR was called to the attention of my medical director, by me, who suggested I do more to protect myself in the future but had no issues with the decision. I actually see these issues at the heart of paramedic medicine. I have only very rarely been at a loss for the appropriate medicine to use at a certain moment, but find that I am regularly challenged to decide the 'right' and 'wrong' from a moral/ethical point of view. Thanks for your reply Matty. I look forward to your thoughts. Fiz, Coz, aren't these issues right down your alleys? :-) Dwayne
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