AMERICAN MEDICAL
ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Resolution:
__(A-03)
Introduced by: American College of
Preventive Medicine
Subject: Collaboration and
Coordination during Disaster Relief
Referred to: Reference Committee ___
WHEREAS, the recent Tsunami and many other
international and domestic acute disasters and chronic
tragedies engender a desire among many American
physicians to be of service; and
WHEREAS, our AMA, as medicine’s umbrella organization,
could provide a useful and admiral coordinating
function for physicians to donate time, money,
supplies, and other resources to those with fewer
resources; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that our AMA Board of Trustees develop a
plan to work with other organizations and help
coordinate domestic and international donations of
physician resources, to populations in acute and
chronic need, and present the plan at I-05(Directive
to Take Action).
Fiscal Note:
RELEVANT AMA POLICY
H-65.994 Medical Care in Countries in Turmoil
The AMA (1) supports the provision of food, medicine
and medical equipment to noncombatants threatened by
natural disaster or military conflict within their
country through appropriate relief organizations; (2)
expresses its concern about the disappearance of
physicians, medical students and other health care
professionals, with resulting inadequate care to the
sick and injured of countries in turmoil; (3) urges
appropriate organizations to transmit these concerns
to the affected country's government; and (4) asks
appropriate international health organizations to
monitor the status of medical care, medical education
and treatment of medical personnel in these countries,
to inform the world health community of their
findings, and to encourage efforts to ameliorate these
problems. (Sub. Res. 133, A-83; Reaffirmed: CLRPD Rep.
I-93-1)
H-130.946 AMA Leadership in the Medical Response to
Terrorism and Other Disasters
(Body of policy too long to include in resolution)
H-140.884 Physician Obligation in Disaster
Preparedness and Response
(1) National, regional, and local responses to
epidemics, terrorist attacks, and other disasters
require extensive involvement of physicians. Because
of their commitment to care for the sick and injured,
individual physicians have an obligation to provide
urgent medical care during disasters. This ethical
obligation holds even in the face of greater than
usual risks to their own safety, health or life. The
physician workforce, however, is not an unlimited
resource; therefore, when participating in
disaster
responses, physicians should balance immediate
benefits to individual patients with ability to care
for patients in the future.
(2) In preparing for epidemics, terrorist attacks, and
other disasters, physicians as a profession must
provide medical expertise and work with others to
develop public health policies that are designed to
improve the effectiveness and availability of medical
care during such events. These policies must be based
on sound science and respect for patients. Physicians
also must advocate for and, when appropriate,
participate in the conduct of ethically sound
biomedical research to inform these policy decisions.
Moreover, individual physicians should take
appropriate advance measures to ensure their ability
to provide medical services at the time of disasters,
including the acquisition and maintenance of relevant
knowledge. (CEJA Report 6, A-04)
D-130.988 Update: Medical Preparedness for Terrorism
and Other Disasters
Our AMA will work with: (1) the Advisory Panel to
Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism
Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Joint
Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations, and other appropriate parties to
promote our policies and recommendations for medical
preparedness for terrorism and other disasters; and
(2) and through the Federation of Medicine to develop
a mechanism for coordinating disaster/terrorism
planning and response activities that involve more
than one component medical society. (CSA Rep. 4, A-01)
