Ethical issues of resuscitation

There is a wide variety of ethical issues and dilemmas involving resuscitat ion, the act of restoring life to a patient in cardiorespiratory arrest. De cisions must be made rapidly and often must be based on suboptimal levels o f information available at the time. Certain issues should be considered wh en one is making decisions in the resuscitation arena, including positive a spects of resuscitation, not only the possibility of restoring life to the patient but also providing a sense of closure and resolution of guilt for t he survivors. During and following resuscitative efforts, the psychologic a nd emotional well-being of the survivors should also be given close attenti on.