Question

Scenario:

Amira is driving on a highway with her male partner, Charlie, and their three-year-old daughter, Samantha. They are hit by a drunk driver in a multi-vehicle accident. Ambulances quickly arrive on the scene, and Amira and Charlie, both seriously injured, are rushed to a nearby hospital in separate ambulances. Samantha, with minor injuries, is taken in another ambulance to a children’s hospital 10 KM away.
In the hospital emergency room Charlie’s vital signs are absent. The trauma team tries to resuscitate him, but their efforts fail. Amira, awake in the same hospital’s trauma room, is not aware of her partner’s death. She asks about her family. At the same time, her vital signs deteriorate because she has lost a lot of blood. Her colour is pale and her lips are cyanotic. As a result of the crash, one lung has collapsed, her breathing is labored, and she also has sustained kidney damage. She urgently needs to have surgery. Whether she will survive the surgery is uncertain. If she does survive, she will be in an induced coma for a week to allow her body to heal. Her physical status is unstable, and the nurses and their colleagues fear that any further stress might seriously impair her capacity to survive. She loses consciousness briefly and then suddenly awakes and asks, “How is Charlie?” and “Where is Samantha?” The nurses tell her that Samantha is well and at another hospital. No one on the team wants to answer her Amira’s question about Charlie. They are aware of the risks of telling her now. But they are also afraid that she might die in the operating room without knowing the truth about Charlie.

Questions

1. Individually Reflect on the case and the commentary. Write down your initial thoughts/reactions.

2. Determine who is involved in the case. Name all the parties and their relationship to the patient.
3. Describe the issue. What exactly is the problem or issue to be solved?
4. Assess the situation. What are the team’s "perceptions" and reflections on the situation - in short form?
5. Clarify values. What Ethical Values are involved in this story?
6. Identify ethical principles involved in the case. You can use all your reading and resources to name them.
7. Clarify legal rules. Are there any laws involved in this story?

Answer 1

* the mistake was done by a drunken driver. acess the driver situation and ask himto pay penalty of the entire issue. three years old child losing their parents is not small issue. what about the childs health and growth and her financial problems.

*the persons involved in the case are samatha, amira and charlie.. charlie is amiras husband and samatha is amiras daughter.

*charlie is died in the emergency room, his daughter is three years old child who cannot understand the situation. his wife is semiconscius state anf fighting with her life. the main issue happend here is that they three met with an multiplevehicle accident and bought to nearest hospitals. charlie died and amiras condition is serious. she has to undergone a surgery and not sure that she will return back or not. in her sitruation stress can worsen her situation. due to that reason the hospital staff are not saying anything about her husbands death to her. the issue to be solved is that the hospital staff should say the truth to the amira or not.

* The team perceptions in this case are if they say truth toamira tere is a chance of increased stress and can lead to death. if they do not say any any truth the patient, if she died on the surgery table she may die without knowing her husband was died.

* the ethical values are in any situation the patients death should be informed to all his family members immeditely. not telling the truth means they are violating the rules.

*the hospital staff should follow the ethical rules and they should saythe amira about her husbands death.

*the drunken driver should be punished and he should pay the hospital bill and take care of samatha. the case should be legally proceeded and they should get consent form from the samatha and amira.