Development of a tool for withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in the emergency room

Active treatment withholding and withdrawing decisions in the emergency room (ER) must be taken collegially according to ethical and juridical statements. Specific tools can support this process and our main goal was to create and validate such a tool. We created a first version of a tool to help for treatment withholding and withdrawing decisions inspired by similar documents from literature. Every item of this tool was then assessed by a group of experts (ER physicians and nurses) using the Delphi method to reach a consensus. Thirty-four experts from eleven ER (academic, regional centre) were included and participate to the first round and twenty-seven to the second round. From the eighty-two-item tool, sixty-five items reach a consensus during these two rounds and were kept to constitute the final version of the tool. We have been able to create a tool to help for treatment withholding and withdrawing decisions adapted to the guidelines for end of life patient's management in the ER. This tool has been validated using a Delphi method by a group of experts from different centres. This multicentre validation will help for the diffusion and use of this tool in the different ER of the Rhône-Alpes region.