Original Manuscript Ethical decision-making based on field assessment: The experiences of prehospital personnel Mohammad Torabi, Fariba Borhani, Abbas Abbaszadeh and Foroozan Atashzadeh-Shoorideh Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran Abstract Introduction: Due to the stressful nature of prehospital emergency providers’ duties, as well as difficulties such as distance to information resources and insufficient time to analyze situations, ethical decision-making in prehospital services is a daily challenge. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the experiences of Iranian prehospital emergency personnel in the field of ethical decision-making. Methods: The data were collected by semi-structured interviews (n ¼ 15) in Iran and analyzed using the content analysis approach. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of research ethics and national rules and regulations relating to informed consent and confidentiality. Results: The results obtained were categorized into three main categories that included “assessment of the scene atmosphere, assessment of patients’ condition and their family, and predicting outcomes of decision-making.” The central category was “field assessment,” which demonstrated the strategy of ethical decision-making by prehospital providers when facing ethical conflicts. Conclusion: Although findings showed that the majority of prehospital providers make ethical decisions based on the patients’ benefit, they also consider consequences of their decisions in dealing with personal and professional threats. This article identifies and describes a number of ethical values of prehospital providers and discusses how the values may be considered by paramedics when facing ethical conflicts. Keywords Content analysis, emergency medical services, ethical decision-making, prehospital Introduction Emergency medical services (EMS) and out-of-hospital care are important parts of the continuum of emergency healthcare, providing emergency care to critically ill or injured patients and transporting them to the destined hospitals or care units. 1 Emergency medical care is different from other areas of medical care. It includes the necessity to respond quickly; limited time to make clinical or ethical decisions; distance Corresponding author: Fariba Borhani, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Vali-Asr Avenue, Cross of Vali-Asr and Neiaiesh Highway, Opposite to Rajaee Heart Hospital, Tehran 1996835119, Iran. Email: faribaborhani@msn.com Nursing Ethics 1–12 ª The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav 10.1177/0969733017736925 journals.sagepub.com/home/nej