PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Iain Campbell
TI  - Paramedic delivery of bad news: a novel dilemma during the COVID-19 crisis
AID  - 10.1136/medethics-2020-106710
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 16--19
VI  - 47
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/47/1/16.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/47/1/16.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2021 Jan 01; 47
AB  - As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, paramedics in the UK face unprecedented challenges in the care of acutely unwell patients and their family members. This article will describe and discuss a new ethical dilemma faced by clinicians in the out-of-hospital environment during this time, namely the delivery of bad news to family members who are required to remain at home and self-isolate while the critically unwell patient is transported to hospital. I will discuss some failings of current practice and reflect on some of the ethical and practical challenges confronting paramedics in these circumstances. I conclude by making three recommendations: first, that dedicated pastoral outreach teams ought to be set up during pandemics to assist family members of patients transported to hospital; second, I offer a framework for how bad news can be delivered during a lockdown in a less damaging way; and finally, that a new model of bad news delivery more suited for unplanned, time-pressured care should be developed.