Institutional Ethics Committee

The Ethics Committee

1. Meets with patients, the families of patients, and with Parkland's health care staff to help give advice when there are questions about the right thing to do.
2. Gives information, and teaches the Parkland health care staff about the right things to do in health care.
3. Looks over Parkland policies (written rules) and procedures (ways of doing things) that have to do with ethical (moral) questions.   An example would be the policies (written rules) about keeping a patient on life support, or not.
4. Can tell people where to call with questions about health care law.

The Ethics Consultation Service can help when Parkland patients, their families, and health care staff need to talk about and make choices about values, beliefs and rights in health care.

You can reach the Consultation Service by paging them at 214-786-7814. When you hear the beep, punch in the number you want them to call back. If you are a patient, or a patient's family member, you can also ask your doctor, nurse or any other health care provider to help you get in touch with the Consultation Service.

Here are some Ethics Committee handouts you can download and print:

• Guidelines for Treatment of Adults and Life-Support Decision Making
• Guidelines for Treatment of Minors and Life-Support Decision Making
• When There is a Disagreement About Medical Treatment:
  • The Physician Recommends Life-Sustaining Treatment That You Wish to Stop - Spanish Version
  • The Physician Recommends Against Life-Sustaining Treatment That You Wish to Continue - Spanish Version
• End Of Life Procedure
• Bioethics Consultation Service of the Institutional Ethics Committee
• Advance Directives

Here are some other handouts you may find helpful.

• Texas Advance Directives Act
• Glossary of Terms from the American Academy of Family Physicians
• AMA booklet "Shape Your Heath Care Future with Health Care Advance Directives"
• Organ Donation
• Instructions for reportable infectious disease
• Prevention Counseling/Partner Elicitation
  (PCPE) Pre-Course
• HIV Education Program (about both testing and counseling) - from the Texas Department of Health
• Ethics on the World Wide Web
• Bioethics Web Resources
• Ethics Statements and Other Position Statements from the American Academy of Neurology