Ethical decision-making in humanitarian medicine: How best to prepare?

Abstract

Ethical decision-making during humanitarian medical response is a topic of great moral as well as practical importance. The context of humanitarian disasters, often characterized by acute time-pressure, lack of resources, the unfamiliarity of circumstances, is stressful for medical professionals. The overall aim of this article is pragmatic, to introduce briefly the importance and context for preparing medical disaster response personnel for ethical decision-making and then to provide a discussion case and explain the particular value-reflection methodology. The focus of methodology is on providing space for the emotional and stressful aspects of ethics training for disasters.