Emergency services and police staff deserve our respect and admiration for risking life and limb in respnding to recent terrorist attacks at the Manchester Arena and in Central London. This is in addition to people throw themselves in the path of London Tube trains several times a week. Most are horrifically and mortally injured. The train driver is often traumatised. Medical workers face grave hazards trying to access the injured survivor, having to crawl underneath the train along potentially electrified tracks. Commuter journeys are lengthily disrupted. Apart from the ethical dilemma surrounding attempts to take one’s own life, is one obliged to not put others at risk of occupational hazards and inconvenience, more so now when rescue crews have to deal with frequent innocent mass casualties from barbaric acts?
Declaration: I was a prehospital doctor working in England until May 2013.