FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE
FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE
LIFE AND DEATH: An Ethical Dilemma
Patrick Barrett, MD
I
had just arrived for
my night shift when
my colleagues told
me that a level one
trauma was coming
in about 10 minutes.
EMS had called over
the radio, “61-year-old
female with self-inflict-
ed GSW to the left chest. Tachycardic, 94
percent on room NRB. Vitals otherwise sta-
ble. ETA 10 minutes.” A level one trauma
was paged out, and I headed to the trauma
room to prepare. A chronically ill-appearing
female rolled in, in no distress at all, sitting
mostly upright on the EMS stretcher. The
tension lessened somewhat due to her stable
appearance.
“I don’t want anything done for me. I
have a living will. I don’t want any help. I
just want to die.” These were the first words
she spoke as she arrived.
I had not encountered this before. I hesi-
tated for a second before telling Carol (name
changed) that since this was a suicide at-
tempt we were obligated to help her. I turned
to my attending, questioning what I had
just said and asked what I actually should
do. My attending said that the assumption
was that she was not of sound mind (did
not have capaci