Accounting for vulnerability to illness and social disadvantage in pandemic critical care triage.
In a pandemic situation, resources in intensive care units may be stretched to the breaking point, and critical care triage may become necessary. In such a situation, I argue that a patient's combined vulnerability to illness and social disadvantage should be a justification for giving that patient some priority for critical care. In this article I present an example of a critical care triage protocol that recognizes the moral relevance of vulnerability to illness and social disadvantage, from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Kaposy
Chris
C
Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. christopher.kaposy@med.mun.ca
D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003422:Critical Care; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000639:trends; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000941:ethics*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000821:virology; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D004930:Inuit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009523:Newfoundland and Labrador / Q000453:epidemiology; D018579:Patient Selection / Q000941:ethics*; D011379:Prognosis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012923:Social Class; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D035862:Vulnerable Populations