title: Pandemic ventilator rationing and appeals processes.
abstract: In a severe influenza pandemic, hospitals will likely experience serious and widespread shortages of patient pulmonary ventilators and of staff qualified to operate them. Deciding who will receive access to mechanical ventilation will often determine who lives and who dies. This prospect raises an important question whether pandemic preparedness plans should include some process by which individuals affected by ventilator rationing would have the opportunity to appeal adverse decisions. However, the issue of appeals processes to ventilator rationing decisions has been largely neglected in state pandemic planning efforts. If we are to devise just and effective plans for coping with a severe influenza pandemic, more attention to the issue of appeals processes for pandemic ventilator rationing decisions is needed. Arguments for and against appeals processes are considered, and some suggestions are offered to help efforts at devising more rational pandemic preparedness plans.
authors.affiliation: Union Graduate College/Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Schenectady, NY 12038, USA. dpatrone@gmail.com
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patrone
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Resnik
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006285:Health Planning / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D058873:Pandemics; D012122:Ventilators, Mechanical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*