Table 1 Required Criteria for Medical Emergencies carried out without the consent of participants

a. A serious threat to the prospective participant requires immediate intervention;

b. Either no standard efficacious care exists or the research offers a realistic possibility of direct benefit to the participant in comparison with standard care;

c. Either the risk is not greater than that involved in standard efficacious care, or it is clearly justified by the prospect for direct benefits to the participant;

d. The prospective participant is unconscious or lacks capacity to understand the risks, methods and purposes of the research project;

e. Third-party authorization cannot be secured in sufficient time, despite diligent and documented efforts to do so; and

f. No relevant prior directive by the participant is known to exist.