The Usefulness of Automated External Defibrillator - Case Study Example

Ethics, professionalism and contemporary Issues Case Study Analysis An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a device that checks the rhythm of the heart. It is a portable device. AED sends tries restoring the normal rhythm of the heart by sending an electric shock to it. It is used in the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in which heart beat stops suddenly and unexpectedly, thus stopping the flow of blood to the body organs. If the patient is not treated within minutes of SCA, death may result. AED serves as a life saving device in such cases. The usefulness of AEDs in the treatment of patients of SCA can be estimated from the fact that improved access to the AEDs can result in the saving of up to 40,000 lives annually in the US alone which is equivalent for the breast cancer’s cure (“AED Usage” 2). A number of moral issues are involved in this case study. Major moral issues include continuation of this job by Justin when he knows that he is not capable of delivering what he was hired for, attempting to sign off on the design of testing procedures, protocols and standards when Justin does not have adequate experience to tell whether the proposed design is appropriate, and doing something that Justin knows is wrong. As a licensed professional engineer, anybody would expect Justin to be able to sign off on the design, let alone Mellissa who is not even an engineer herself. It is Justin’s moral obligation to prove that the licensing agency did not make a false decision by issuing him the license of a professional engineer which he can only achieve by developing the skills and gaining the knowledge it takes to be able to sign off on the design. However, at the same time, what he does has potential implications on the quality of the AEDs that employ the sensors provided by SensTek Corporation that could in turn cost the patients their lives, and the hospitals, their good reputation. Justin has the ethical obligation to prove his status as a licensed professional engineer. He also has the ethical obligation of doing what SensTek Corporation hired him for. In addition to that, Justin is ethically obliged to ensure the health and safety of the users of the AEDs that have sensors employed by SensTek Corporation. Justin’s ethical obligations under the given circumstances include developing the skills required by SensTek Corporation in him, only proceeding with signing off when he is confident that the design he is approving is adequate, and leaving the job if he is not able to achieve these objectives. According to the utilitarian theory of ethics, Justin should take that action that has the maximum utility. If he signs off on the design now, he would only be addressing the concern of his supervisor Mellissa whereas if he deters from signing off on the design, he would not only be behaving professionally and ethically, but would also keep the image of SensTek Corporation from being tarnished. In addition to that, the health and safety of the community at large would also be ensured. The major ethical dilemma evident from the case study is that Justin needs to choose between signing off on design and not signing off on design. On one hand, if he does sign off, he would be involved in a work that he is not capable of doing. The IEEE Code of Ethics obliges the professionals to be fully committed to “accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment” (“IEEE Code of Ethics”). Although that would satisfy Justin’s supervisor, Mellissa as she is not an engineer and apparently does not understand the gravity of the unfavorable consequences that approving of inadequate design by Justin might lead to, yet Justin would assume the risk of not only losing his license of a professional engineer for approving the faulty design but would also pose risk to the lives of the patients of SCA when they would be treated with AEDs with sensors of SensTek Corporation installed in them. This is against the IEEE Code of Ethics that obliges the professionals to deter from injuring the reputation, property, employment, or health of other people by taking actions that are malicious or false (“IEEE Code of Ethics”). On the other hand, if Justin does not sign off, although he would be deterring from approving designs without being confident about them being correct, yet he would dissatisfy his supervisor and might also be deprived of his job as approving design happens to be the main responsibility as a licensed professional engineer. From the details given in the case study, it is evident that Justin does not want to sign off without being confident about the design. One option that Justin might take to proceed is to request the supervisor to allow him some time to understand and review the design in more detail so that he might reach a point where he could feel confident in signing off. This approach is consistent with the requirement of the IEEE Code of Ethics as it requires the professionals to “to maintain and improve [their] technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations” (“IEEE Code of Ethics”). The length of time required by Justin depends upon how inexperienced he is and how long he takes to understand new systems and concepts. As it might seem inappropriate to be paid for a skill that he yet does not have, Justin might propose to the supervisor to reduce his salary for the length of time during which he learns or what it takes him to sign off. This might be feasible for the supervisor also since Justin would be compensating with reduction in his salary for not having the skill he is supposed to have. Justin should use this time to learn the design in greater depth and eventually get the necessary skills to be able to sign off on the design. Another option available for Justin is to resign from this job. While it seems to be the most instant and the easiest way out of the problem, it is certainly the least useful way for Justin in terms of his career and skill development, and also would reflect that Justin is a coward who escapes challenges rather than facing them like a brave man. It might also permanently shatter his confidence to ever be able to sign off on the design in the future. Therefore, this option is certainly not recommended. Concluding, it is not unusual for a freshly licensed professional engineer to lack the complete set of skills required to be able to sign off on the designs like the ones in SensTek Corporation. When a responsible professional is caught in such a situation, it is his/her moral as well as ethical responsibility to consider the health and safety of the public at large and the reputation of the organization he/she is working more important than his/her comfort zone. Therefore, Justin needs to do all it takes to deter from signing off on the designs that Mellissa requires him to unless he has actually developed the skills needed for that. He should compensate SensTek Corporation with cost saving from imposing reduction on his salary till the time Justin is not capable of signing off on the designs. Works Cited: “AED Usage: Statistics.” Cardiac Science. N.d. Web. 20 March 2013. . “IEEE Code of Ethics.” 2013. Web. 20 March 2013. . Read More