Table 2.

Research agenda: example questions to address through normative and empirical research.

Area of research interest	Example research questions
Scope and Frequency of Ethical Dilemmas	What ethical dilemmas do clinicians and families experience in ECLS?
	How frequently do these ethical dilemmas arise?
Clinical Decisions to Initiate, Forgo or Discontinue ECLS	What are existing decision-making models for initiation, forgoing, or discontinuing ECLS? How are decisions made within the context of high urgency and high stakes decisions?
	How and why does ECLS utilization vary between institutions? What factors contribute to these variations in practices, and how can they be mitigated to ensure equitable care?
	How do clinicians' personal values influence interpretation of outcome data? How are appropriate morbidity and mortality thresholds for compelling or withholding ECLS determined?
	Is ECLS viewed by institutions and society as a conventional therapy or an extraordinary intervention? How do societal values influence ECLS utilization and discontinuation?
Communication and Emotional Support	How does the medical team's approach to communication impact family's understanding, experience and outcomes?
	What are the barriers and potential facilitators of optimizing communication with families?
	How can disagreements and biases among clinicians be minimized through thoughtful discourse? Should surrogate decision makers be made aware of differing opinions within the medical team? If so, what approaches should be used?
Clinical Research Design and Implementation	In what contexts are randomized trials involving ECLS justified? What alternatives may be appropriate and under what conditions?
	Should the approach to clinical research in ECLS differ from other life support therapies, such as mechanical ventilation?