Alright, I'm gonna be the soulless monster who brings it up......
Have those of us in critical care/inpatient started to think of the possibility that rationing care will occur?
IF this spread gets bad, and large numbers of people need vents, we will have to start triaging and rationing
There is a woeful lack of vents overall and there will be even fewer numbers of nurses available to manage those ventilated patients
Which means, rationing, and choosing who gets that care
If we follow the utilitarian model, of who will benefit the most from that care, the elderly, especially those with comorbidities are poor candidates to get those spaces, particularly when we look at numbers of that demographic who survive being intubated and return to a somewhat normal life (it's shockingly few, FYI)
Links here to support my last statement- would love to hear some thoughts from others
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
On 3/29/2020 at 7:25 PM, Katie82 said:
Read a book called "Five Days at Memorial" about a hospital that was impacted by the flooding following Katrina. Staff forced to make some heart-wrenching life/death decisions we are discussing. Then to add insult to injury, one of the docs involved in those decisions was arrested and charged with murder. Hope we don't see any of that with this situation.
Maybe health professionals should enjoy the same level of immunity that police enjoy.
toomuchbaloney
16,089 Posts
Maybe health professionals should enjoy the same level of immunity that police enjoy.