Sheri Fink, award winning author to address Disaster Bioethics conference

When disaster strikes a region, who decides what medical care is needed? How do healthcare professionals assess patients to decide who gets cared for first? What happens when movement is restricted? How do responders know if they have made the right decision?

These are some of the questions which will be discussed at the Disaster Bioethics Conference taking place at DCU today (October 3rd) and tomorrow (Tuesday, October 4th) which examines in detail the ethical dilemmas facing responders and various organisations in disaster zones.

Among the keynote speakers is Dr Sheri Fink (pictured), author of Five Days at Memorial, which recounts the events at a New Orleans hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Fink, a disaster physician and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, was widely acclaimed for her ground-breaking New York Times best-selling book which explored the excruciating struggles facing doctors and nurses after Hurricane Katrina struck, leaving critically ill patients in their hospital without power or other vital resources.

She was also a member of the New York Times reporting team that received the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for coverage of the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.

The upcoming conference is part of the COST Association Programme and supported by the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020.

An international and national audience of experts will attend the two-day event at the DCU Glasnevin Campus.

Joining Sheri Fink for keynote presentations are: Anant Bhan: Researcher in bioethics, global health and health policy at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Adjunct Professor at Yenepoya University, India.

Mercedes Tatay and Philippe Calain: Médecins Sans Frontières, Switzerland.

An international panel of representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

Read a full interview and listen to a podcast, courtesy of Silicon Republic by clicking on the following link Sheri Fink Interview and Podcast