Citation

Tatebe LC, Kaufman EJ, Nappi T, Dennis AJ, Neely KJ, Hall EC, Smith M, Duncan T. J. Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/TA.0000000000003810

PMID

36253908

Abstract

Comprehensive trauma services sit at the intersection of health care, law enforcement, ethics, and social work. Each domain has its own set of priorities around the patient and the community. While these priorities often overlap, the ultimate goal is to promote collaborative patient-centered care. The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Injury Prevention committee sought to provide recommendations for a framework that builds ethical interactions with law enforcement in the trauma bay. These are rooted in four prime bioethical principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, honoring autonomy, and justice. In the presented work, cases are used to illustrate how common interactions can be ethically handled and suggestions on how to develop policies, create systems for patient advocates, and leverage infrastructure to reduce conflict and improve trauma care. By keeping the patient's best interest at the focus, acknowledging the importance of protecting community wellbeing, and acting within the bounds of ethical principles and local statutes, trauma care teams and law enforcement officers can work collaboratively to achieve respective goals.

Language: en