It is with deep shock and dismay that I read in your Saturday publication that the enrolled assistant nurse, who assisted the persons in that bus tragedy in Portland, faced disciplinary action from the Nursing Council of Jamaica.

As a member of a professional body, I do recognise the need for preservation of good practice and ethics to ensure that the profession is above any suspicion of it being incapable of regulating the service provided.

The issue, however, is not the perceived failure of the nurse to obtain authorisation to administer the drug, nor is it the actions which were beyond her professional scope.

Emergency

If she acted in an emergency to save lives, that should take precedence above rules and regulations.

This action reminds me of previous allegations in some countries where members of the medical profession have failed to act in an emergency because they feared civil litigation.

This leads me to ask the question of ethical dilemma. Do you prosecute an individual who tries to save a person's life, and in their attempt to do so causes the death of the person?

Justice should also be tempered with mercy, and the nurse seemed to have had mitigating circumstances.

I am, etc.,

MARIO WOODE

Solutions696@aol.com