Preparation for and response to a pandemic, act of bioterrorism, hurricane or other emergency involves extraordinary collaboration among hospitals, public health authorities, law enforcement agencies, emergency management units and others. Among the most challenging issues faced during such preparation and response are isolation and quarantine, triage and rationing, workforce absenteeism and provider liability.
The Miami-Dade County Hospital Preparedness Consortium Ethics Advisory Group
There is a growing recognition that these challenges are in large part ethical challenges. The Miami-Dade County Hospital Preparedness Consortium, created by the Miami-Dade County Health Department in 2007, established an Ethics Advisory Group to work with other emergency planners to ensure that ethical issues are adequately addressed during the planning and response processes. The Ethics Advisory Group has not been active lately, but it is available on demand in case of a regional emergency. The Ethics Advisory Group, as initially constituted, comprised the chairs of hospital, hospice, nursing home and community-based ethics committees in Miami-Dade County, with courtesy membership extended to colleagues in Broward County as well as academic experts from around South Florida.
The Ethics Advisory Group is chaired by Kenneth W. Goodman, Ph.D., director of the University of Miami Bioethics Program and the Florida Bioethics Network. The committee's inaugural meeting was March 14, 2007, in Miami. The group then helped lead a pandemic preparedness retreat on March 20, 2007. A second meeting was held on June 5, 2007.
For more information, please contact Ken Goodman.
Following is a selection of resources addressing some of these issues:
H1N1 Influenza
Regional
National
Miscellaneous
Educational Opportunities/ Archive
