Acceptability of practicing procedures for clinical skills training on a newly dead in the emergency department

Objective: To determine the acceptability and the attitudes of practicing lifesaving procedures for clinical skills training on a newly dead in the emergency department (ED) by the emergency medicine faculty members, residents, 6th year medical students, patients and their relatives. Materials and Methods: A descriptive survey was administered to a convenience sample of health professionals and ED patients and their relatives at a tertiary care university hospital. The Institutional Ethics Committee approved this study. The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts: Demographic data; Questions about procedures on newly dead people in the emergency department; Lifesaving procedures likely to be practiced; and Additional questions for healthcare professionals. Questionnaire included multiple choice and open-ended questions. Results: 120 healthcare professionals and 120 patients and their relatives were included in the study. 107 (44.6%) participants were women and the mean age of the all participants was 31.83±11.16 years. 195 participants (81.3%) declared that practicing procedures on newly dead was acceptable. Laryngeal mask airway placement (88.3%) and endotracheal intubation (86.7%) were considered the most appropriate procedures to be practiced. A total of 83 health professionals (69.2%) reported that they had performed procedures on newly dead patient. The most common practice was endotracheal intubation. The average of the responses on the 11-point Likert scale, which evaluates the similarity of manikins and newly dead was found 3.16±2.44 points (0: completely different, 10 exactly the same). Conclusion: Performing procedures on newly dead in the emergency department for clinical skills training is acceptable by health professionals, patients and their relatives after obtaining informed consent from the next of kin or legally authorized representative. All attempts should be performed in a structured training sequence and under close supervision, and must be documented in the medical record. Ethical codes and guidelines should be developed by the relevant institutions to allow and encourage to practice procedures on newly dead. Key Words: Newly dead, Training, Education, Procedures, Emergency department