Deck 8: Ethics in Paramedicine

Question 1

When analyzing an ethical problem, the method in which you ask whether you would want an action performed in all relevantly similar circumstances is known as the:

A) impartiality test.
B) interpersonal justifiability test.
C) universalizability test.
D) rationalization test.

Answer 1

universalizability test.

Question 2

If you receive a copy of a valid DNR order after you have begun resuscitation attempts, you are ethically obligated to:

A) cease resuscitation efforts.
B) check the patient's breathing and pulse before ceasing resuscitation efforts.
C) continue resuscitation until ordered to stop by medical direction.
D) continue resuscitation attempts until the patient is transported to an emergency department.

Answer 2

cease resuscitation efforts.

Question 3

Your patient is a 49-year-old woman with terminal cancer. She has a DNR order, but her family has called 911 because the patient is having difficulty breathing and seems to be very uncomfortable. Making the patient as comfortable as possible demonstrates the ethical principle of:

A) beneficence.
B) autonomy.
C) justice.
D) malfeasance.

Answer 3

beneficence.

Question 4

Which of the following questions should guide the paramedic in ethical decision making?

A) "Have I consulted with medical direction?"
B) "What legal liability will I face as a result of this action?"
C) "What is in the patient's best interest?"
D) "What do the system protocols say?"

Question 5

When analyzing an ethical problem, the method in which you ask yourself whether you would be willing to undergo a procedure or action if you were in the patient's place is known as the:

A) universalizability test.
B) rationalization test.
C) impartiality test.
D) interpersonal justifiability test.

Question 6

You are on the scene where an 80-year-old woman is unresponsive and has shallow, snoring respirations. The patient's husband wants you to do nothing for the patient, but her daughter is crying and pleading with you to do something to help her mother. The patient lacks a DNR. The husband insists that his wife would not want to be "kept alive by machines." Which of the following is the most ethical course of action?

A) Follow the husband's wishes, because he has the legal authority to make the decision while the daughter does not.
B) Explain to the husband that you do not yet know what is wrong with his wife, that it may be something readily treatable, and that without a written order from her physician you cannot withhold treatment.
C) Consider how you would feel if it was your spouse or parent, and ask yourself what you would want done.
D) Find out more about the patient's medical history in an attempt to determine if resuscitative measures would be futile.

Question 7

The most common situations involving allocation of scarce resources that paramedics will usually face are those involving:

A) administering expensive medications.
B) deciding whether to terminate resuscitative efforts.
C) triage in mass-casualty incidents.
D) transporting patients to high-quality versus low-quality hospitals.

Question 8

Social, religious, or personal standards of right and wrong are called:

A) morals.
B) culture.
C) common laws.
D) ethics.

Question 9

When analyzing an ethical problem, the method in which you ask yourself whether you can vindicate your actions to others is known as the:

A) interpersonal justifiability test.
B) rationalization test.
C) impartiality test.
D) universalizability test.

Question 10

The obligation of a paramedic to treat all patients fairly is an example of the principle of:

A) beneficence.
B) democracy.
C) sovereignty.
D) justice.

Question 11

The four fundamental principles or values used to resolve problems in bioethics today include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) beneficence.
B) maleficence.
C) autonomy.
D) egalitarianism.

Question 12

Enforced racial segregation in the United States before the 1960s can best be described as:

A) illegal, but ethical.
B) legal, but unethical.
C) illegal and unethical.
D) legal and ethical.

Question 13

State laws requiring the reporting of births, deaths, certain infectious diseases, and child and elder abuse and neglect may require the paramedic to breach the obligation to protect the patient's:

A) right to self-determination.
B) First Amendment rights.
C) confidentiality.
D) autonomy.

Question 14

You are driving home late one night from a state-to-state interhospital transport. You are still in the other state driving home at 0200 hours when you come upon a single-vehicle MVC on a deserted stretch of the highway. You stop your ambulance, and you and your partner assess the scene and find out there is only one occupant of the vehicle and that the victim is unresponsive. If you initiate care and transport the patient to a hospital without summoning local EMS or fire, your actions could be considered:

A) illegal.
B) unethical.
C) inappropriate.
D) unnecessary.

Question 15

Rules or standards that govern the conduct of members of a particular group or profession are called:

A) regulations.
B) ethics.
C) morals.
D) statutes.

Question 16

Failure to stop and render assistance could be perceived by the patient's family or other EMS providers as being:

A) illegal.
B) unethical.
C) appropriate.
D) unnecessary.

Question 17

The right of competent people to determine what happens to their bodies is one example of the principle of:

A) autonomy.
B) libertarianism.
C) democracy.
D) agency.

Question 18

The idea that each person must decide how to behave and that whatever decision that person makes is acceptable is known as:

A) consequentialism.
B) the deontological method.
C) ethical relativism.
D) moral positivism.

Question 19

Your paramedic partner is telling you about a situation in which he resuscitated a patient with a DNR, even though the DNR was present and available to him at the time he began resuscitation. He tells you he is justified because the patient survived for a year after the incident and suffered no ill effects from the cardiac arrest or the resuscitation efforts. Which of the following best describes the ethical approach used by your partner?

A) Deontologicalism
B) Consequentialism
C) Ethical relativism
D) Self-determination

Question 20

When students are working with patients under a preceptor in an EMS system, at what point should the preceptor inform the patients that their care, or part of it, is being performed by a student?

A) This information should not be revealed to the patient.
B) The patient should be informed after the procedure but only if there are no complications from the procedure.
C) The patient should be informed if he asks what the caregiver's qualifications are.
D) The patient should be informed before procedures are performed, and the student should be allowed to proceed only with the patient's consent.

Question 21

Which of the following is not typically addressed in a code of ethics?

A) nondiscrimination
B) fitness requirements
C) social responsibility
D) responsible publication