Florida Public Health Emergency Ethics Project (FPHEEP)*

Preparation for and response to a pandemic, act of bioterrorism, hurricane or other emergency involves extraordinary collaboration among hospitals, public health authorities, law enforcement agencies, emergency management units and others. Among the most challenging issues faced during such preparation and response are isolation and quarantine, triage and rationing, workforce absenteeism and provider liability. There is a growing recognition that these challenges are in large part ethical challenges. The Miami-Dade County Hospital Preparedness Consortium, created by the Miami-Dade County Health Department, has established an Ethics Advisory Group to work with other emergency planners to ensure that ethical issues are adequately addressed during the planning process. Working in close cooperation with the Health Council of South Florida and the University of Miami Ethics Programs, the Ethics Advisory Group has begun meeting to draft ethics policy guidelines and prepare related resources.

The Ethics Advisory Group comprises the chairs of hospital, hospice, nursing home and community-based ethics committees in Miami-Dade County, with courtesy membership extended to colleagues in Broward County as well as academic experts from around South Florida. The Ethics Advisory Group is chaired by Kenneth W. Goodman, Ph.D., director of the University of Miami Bioethics Program. The committee's inaugural meeting was March 14, 2007, in Miami. The group then helped lead a pandemic preparedness retreat on March 20, 2007. A second meeting was held on June 5. The group is working with the Health Council of South Florida to develop a pandemic preparedness and response White Paper. The next meeting is being planned for the summer of 2008.

This site is under construction. For more information about the All Hazards Ethics Advisory Group, or to make suggestions, please contact Ken Goodman.

Click here for a roster of Ethics Advisory Group members.

Key links and other resources for pandemic and all-hazards preparation and response:

Miami-Dade County Hospital Preparedness Consortium, Preparedness is Critical! Website
Florida Department of Health, Office of Public Health Preparedness.
Institute of Medicine, Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease
General Accounting Office, Hospital preparedness report
American Hospital Association, Emergency readiness resources
Trust for America's Health, Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism
American Public Health Association, APHA Prescription for Pandemic Flu
U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Public Health Emergency Preparedness
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethical Guidelines in Pandemic Influenza
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overview, PandemicFlu.gov
University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, Pandemic Influenza Working Group, Stand on guard for thee: Ethical considerations in preparedness planning for pandemic influenza
Joint Commission (JCAHO), Emergency preparedness resources
World Health Organization, Addressing Ethical Issues in Pandemic Influenza Planning

Educational opportunities / Archive:

:: Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, San Antonio, February 23-4, 2008: "Ethics, Public Health and the Environment"

:: American College of Epidemiology, Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, September 17, 2007: "Ethics and Pandemiology: Balancing Rights, Managing Resources"

:: American Society for Bioethics and the Humanities, Washington, D.C., October 18, 2007, : "Development of an Ethics Process for Pandemic Preparedness and Response"

:: Florida Bioethics Network, Sarasota, November 9, 2007, FBN Fall Meeting, "Preparing for the Coming Pandemic"

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.* Pronounced FEEP