Emergency Ethics: Public Health Preparedness and Response

by Bruce Jennings (editor), John D. Arras (Editor), Drue H. Barrett (Editor)

Emergency Ethics brings together leading scholars in the fields of public health ethics and bioethics to discuss disaster or emergency ethics and ethical aspects of preparedness and response with specific application to public health policy and practice. The book fills a gap in the existing public health ethics literature by providing a comprehensive ethical conception of emergency preparedness as a distinctive form of civic "practice" brought about by the interrelationships and coordination of many groups, disciplines, and interests and drawing on numerous bodies of knowledge and expertise. It addresses particular aspects of preparedness and response plans, particular decisions that planners and communities have to make, decisions that require balancing many diverse and sometimes conflicting values and identifying and applying a framework of basic ethical principles for preparedness planning, emergency response, and post-disaster recovery. It also explores the relationship between emergency preparedness to other facets of public health practice.The book begins with a broad and synthetic overview of emergency ethics that addresses the central components and ethically significant issues arising in public health preparedness planning, disaster response, and recovery. Following that overview are five chapters that in a philosophically innovative and detailed way delve deeply into important and problematic issues in emergency planning and response, including the allocation of scarce resources, conducting ethical research in the context of public health emergencies, the obligations of public health professionals, communication and engagement with the public, and special moral obligations surrounding vulnerable populations.

315 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful textbook on emergency ethics with a strong emphasis on both the American context and public health. The initial chapter is quite a long introduction to the subject, and is expansive if a little less approachable than I'd like to use at the undergraduate level.

Unlike most edited volumes, however, the chapters that follow are the most valuable part of the book. They offer a depth and focus that's not as present in the first 80 pages, and serve as useful topic-based resources. The 'vulnerable populations' chapter in particular was well written.

I likely wouldn't assign this book in an undergraduate class, but would use it as a resource and might consider using some of the chapters as focused readings.