Abstract
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.
MeSH terms
-
Canada / epidemiology
-
Critical Care
-
Cultural Characteristics*
-
Disaster Planning / trends
-
Disease Outbreaks*
-
Health Care Rationing / ethics*
-
Health Policy / trends*
-
Humans
-
Indians, North American* / statistics & numerical data
-
Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / isolation & purification
-
Influenza, Human / ethnology*
-
Influenza, Human / mortality
-
Influenza, Human / virology
-
Intensive Care Units / organization & administration*
-
Intensive Care Units / standards
-
Inuit* / statistics & numerical data
-
Newfoundland and Labrador / epidemiology
-
Patient Selection / ethics*
-
Prognosis
-
Risk Assessment
-
Social Class*
-
Triage* / methods
-
Triage* / organization & administration
-
Triage* / standards
-
Triage* / trends
-
Vulnerable Populations