RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Op GRITROCK ethics; the way of things to come?
JF Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps
JO J R Army Med Corps
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP 150
OP 155
DO 10.1136/jramc-2015-000617
VO 162
IS 3
A1 Katherine A Clay
A1 J D Henning
A1 S Horne
YR 2016
UL http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/162/3/150.abstract
AB The Defence Medical Services (DMS) deployed on Op GRITROCK to Sierra Leone in support of the Ebola outbreak. This operation was the first large-scale DMS deployment since operations in Afghanistan ceased at the end of 2014. This type of operation revealed a number of ethical issues and challenges that the DMS had not faced for a long time. The ethical issues identified during the deployment are discussed in this article using the principalism approach of Beauchamp and Childress. Many of these issues were not identified prior to deployment, and troops were not adequately prepared. The article will outline the difficulties of using the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice during a public health emergency, and conclude with recommendations for ethical considerations that should be identified and mitigated against for future deployments to a public health emergency.