Sanjay Gupta MD, CNN MEDICAL REPORTER AND EMORY FACULTY, reports today his frustrations on being left alone in a hospital with patients with desparate life-threatening conditions in Haiti. The United Nations demanded that medical personell leave the hospital because of perceived safety considerations. Even medical supplies were taken from the hospital. EMORY'S FREE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEDICAL VOLUNTEERISM www.emoryimvc.org PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THIS AND OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES RELATING TO MEDICAL VOLUNTEERISM. We would like to create a series of panel discussions during the conference with audience participation so that medical volunteers can be given a voice relating to this and other important social issues. Ideally, there will be an opportunity to submit to the media a list of consensus statements relating to issues such as:
1. The safety of the volunteers vs. the safety of the victims of a disaster: Who should be the decision-maker?
There are many other similar ethical issues such as those relating to availablility of essential medical supplies, access to transportation, medical licensing, etc Politicians, judges, business men, military leaders often have the authority to make these decisions. Our aim is to give a voice to medical volunteers so that their perspectives can be factored into decision-making relating to these important issues.
We hope Sanjay will be available to join us at the conference.
Please feel free to email us suggested topics for these important panel discussions.
Note: This conference highlights local, national, and international medical volunteer efforts.
Thanks,
Neil Shulman MD
EMORYIMVC ORGANIZER