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Ethical challenges of informed consent in prehospital research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

James Thompson
James Thompson*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
*
Department of Emergency Medicine, QE II Health Science Centre, Halifax Infirmary Site, 1796 Summer St., Halifax NS B3H 3A7; 902 473-2020, fax 902 473-3617, thompsoj@dal.ca

Abstract

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Informed consent to participation in research is an important protector of potential subjects’ rights and autonomy. Ethical research involving critically ill people is challenging because their medical condition often makes obtaining informed consent impossible. This is especially true in the prehospital setting, where additional barriers to obtaining informed consent exist. A recently published Canadian policy (Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans) specifies circumstances under which an exception to the requirement for informed consent may be granted so that vulnerable individuals are not denied the potential benefits of participating in research. This article reviews the rationale for the Tri-Council Policy Statement and illustrates some problems with its application in the context of a Canadian prehospital study on continuous positive airway pressure. A new risk analysis model and a national research ethics board are discussed as possible ways to facilitate interpretation and application of the current exception of informed consent policy.

Keywords

prehospitalresearchinformed consentexception to informed consentcontinuous positive airway pressure
Type
Methodology: The Science of EM • Méthodologie: Science De La MU
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , March 2003 , pp. 108 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2003

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