DMM4047

Newbie here. During my basic class, we touched on ethics/death/etc for a very very brief time. I've got a question I've wanted to ask the folks on this website as I'm sure this is a (somewhat) common situation. I recently thought of this after seeing a news story about a MVA w/entrapment and fire where there were multiple fatalities. Situation: MVA with multiple patients. A/some patient(s) are DOS. A patient that is being treated and transported to the hospital inquires about their friend/family member/girlfriend/etc. If you were a provider and knew that the person who was being asked about was deceased, what are some good strategies to use? I've got my own opinion on this, but I'm curious to hear from others. I can't imagine *lying* to a patient would be right (I mean...we wouldn't lie and tell a critical STEMI patient that they're "alright" now right)? There's always the option of saying "I don't know. There's other providers taking care of them; I'm focused on you." but what if a patient is 100% adamant about knowing prior to transport (perhaps a mother inquiring about her child for example)? Just wanted to start a discussion. I hope I'm not beating a dead horse here. Needless to say, the condition of the patient who is inquiring about another person must be considered. Surely we would evaluate our choice of words when talking to a stable vs critical patient.