STRESS From in Charge Relative Facing the Announcement of Decisions Limiting or Stopping Treatments in Emergency Room During the COVID-19 Epidemic

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency reception services had to be radically reorganized. In this tense environment, professionals must face ethical dilemmas, make referral decisions and prioritize patients. Due to the limited number of visits to many hospitals, interactions with relatives and families of patients are mainly conducted by phone. These limitations will continue as long as the context of uncertainty over the course of the pandemic persists. Limitation or discontinuation of treatment (LDT) announcements were therefore also impacted and the exceptional situation related to COVID-19 reinforces the difficulties encountered by professionals in usual time (place of announcement, inappropriate lack of time, etc.). Thus, LDTs are most often done over the phone without the families being able to go to the hospital. Because of this, these announcements can be more traumatic. Investigators have already highlighted in a recent study the lack of communication between caregivers and families in the context of LDT announcements and the context of COVID 19 exacerbated these aspects given the limitations of visits. The investigators therefore propose to study the experiences of families who are notified of a decision to limit or stop treatment by phone in the emergency room during the COVID-19 crisis.