Mandatory Credit: Photo by IGOR KUPLJENIK/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10586332p) View of mobile hospital tents with a total capacity for 120 beds set up by the Slovenian Army at the Edvard Peperko Barracks in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 17 March 2020. The Slovenian government has halted public transport and shut down most shops in a bid to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Slovenia, a tiny country of just over 2 million inhabitants that borders the coronavirus hotspot of northern Italy, has recorded at least 253 confirmed cases of the disease, with no deaths reported so far. Coronavirus containment efforts in Slovenia, Ljubljana - 17 Mar 2020

COVID-19: Supporting Ethical Care and Responding to Moral Distress in a Public Health Emergency

Guidance, tools, and resources for
Hospital Ethics Committees (HECs)
Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC)

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The Hastings Center, March 24, 2020

Summary

This webinar is designed for use within a health care institution’s COVID-19 preparedness and response activities, supplementing public health, clinical practice, and ethical guidance. It aims to quickly prepare hospital ethics committees (HECs) and clinical ethics consultation (CEC) services to

1) assess and shift their operations to reflect new tasks and work conditions, including resource scarcity, and

2) respond to changing ethical needs and concerns among clinicians caring for patients under contingency levels of care and, potentially, crisis standards of care.

This webinar is not intended to be, and should not be considered, a substitute for clinical ethics consultation or other medical, legal, or other professional advice on individual cases or for particular institutions. It reflects an evolving public health emergency; references are current as of March 23, 2020.

This resource is designed as a compliment to the Ethical Framework for Health Care Institutions Responding to Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19); Guidelines for Institutional Ethics Services Responding to COVID-19 developed by The Hastings Center.  This resource is available at:
https://www.thehastingscenter.org/ethicalframeworkcovid19

Additionally, The Hastings Center has compiled a set of ethics resources for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic:
https://www.thehastingscenter.org/ethics-resources-on-the-coronavirus/