Government Report Answers Who Lives, Who Dies in Flu Pandemic

[lyngraphics]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354135,00.html

Wasn't sure if this belonged here...

[lyngraphics]

To prepare, hospitals should designate a triage team with the Godlike task of deciding who will and who won't get lifesaving care, the task force wrote. Those out of luck are the people at high risk of death and a slim chance of long-term survival. But the recommendations get much more specific, and include:

— People older than 85.

— Those with severe trauma, which could include critical injuries from car crashes and shootings.

— Severely burned patients older than 60.

— Those with severe mental impairment, which could include advanced Alzheimer's disease.

— Those with a severe chronic disease, such as advanced heart failure, lung disease or poorly controlled diabetes.


:ohno

[Rich Indeed]

I don't like the idea of people having to determine who will and who will not get care... but what are hospitals to do if they have needs that far exceed their ability to provide care. They have to develop some guideline in advance for how they would respond if overloaded. Keep in mind that ultimately, God will take the lives of the people - not the nurses or doctors that don't attend to them. It's not pleasant to think about a situation where someone has to make decisions like these... but there have always been times when decisions had to be made when resources were limited. Consider triage units that operate after disasters or even during war.

I know it's not a popular idea to have to consider someone making decisions about who to treat - but I think in some circumstances, it would have to be done.

The Bible tells us that God has already numbered our days. THAT gives me comfort.

[ShannonWallace]

Such a nightmare come true for we parents of 'mentally handicapped' children.

[1angel4u]

:tsk:tsk:tsk

[kenny1659]

I don't like the idea of people having to determine who will and who will not get care... but what are hospitals to do if they have needs that far exceed their ability to provide care. They have to develop some guideline in advance for how they would respond if overloaded. Keep in mind that ultimately, God will take the lives of the people - not the nurses or doctors that don't attend to them. It's not pleasant to think about a situation where someone has to make decisions like these... but there have always been times when decisions had to be made when resources were limited. Consider triage units that operate after disasters or even during war.

I know it's not a popular idea to have to consider someone making decisions about who to treat - but I think in some circumstances, it would have to be done.

The Bible tells us that God has already numbered our days. THAT gives me comfort.


These rules or suggestions are SOP at most medical facilities. In cases of mass casualties and limited medical supplies and services they treat the ones deemed most likely to survive. These guidelines must be updated every few years and when they are it raises a stink in the media. :idunno It is a matter of treating the most people and doing the most good with limited resources.

[Cd4u_2]

reminds me of titanic.

[Heartstorm]

I just read this :( It sounds harsh. I know they are doing whatever they think is needed, but then again IF it was one of my parents or a handicap child ?? It would not be bearable at all. I canonly pray this never has to be acted upon.:pray

[Cd4u_2]

personally, I think they should prepare for things like this.... so no one would have to be left out.

[Jubilee21]

It's a heartbreaking and horrendous scenario if this is kept in the context of a flu panademic.

Outside of a vaccine that could prevent this, the very nature of the flu virus would ultimately be what would kill any of these folks, not the absence of the care..in all likelihood they would die even with the assistance of medical care..thats just simply a very hard reality to deal with.

Each group has a unique set of medical risks that contibute to this. A child with autism would not be in this risk group..the level of the progression of the Alzheinmers disease and patients in this group are very advanced with medical problems..perhaps folks don't understand this from a clinical perspective what the criterias actually represent in terms of what "severe" mental impairment means..

In such a scenario, the sheer number of patients and the type of medical care at this level is staggering..there is no hospital system in the world that could handle this..

By taking steps like this in advance, the point is to save as many lives as possible, and to do no harm. The bottom line here is it would be the flu that was the source of harm, also that even those who did receive care would still result in a high mortality rate

If I was an 85 yr. old grandmother I assure you I would gladly set aside my care and treatment for a child or the parents of a family of children with no regrets, nor would they have to be my family either.

You have to remember that you are dealing with patients who have between zero to less than a 1 percent chance of survival are indeed patient's with severe and profoundly serious pre-existing medical conditions that are already life threatening..that they are very advanced and have an extremely, low survival rate already on board before they are hit with a lethal flu versus patients with "a chance" of survival..no one is playing God here at all, nor is this on any level or even on the same page with euthenasia or selective extermination as some folks try to equate it with when they react with outrage at the notion these facilities are "playing God".:tsk

Instead of the "Titanic", think about "Pearl Harbor" and what the medical facilities had to respond with under the circumstances ..in particular the scene where the nurses had to go around and put lipstick on the patients that had no chance, and all they could do was try to keep them comfortable. The lethalness of the flu virus would be the equivalent of the scale of fatalities from the bombs that hit the Harbor that day..

The survival of every single patient who contracts a flu that is this league of severity will indeed be in God's hands as well as those who will be in trenches at these facilities being used by Him.

Most care would be managed on a first come, first saved basis by the sheer numbers of folks who would be in need of that level of care, and tragically the odds are it would become completely impossible to even treat those who did not fall into any of those groups mentioned in the article..that's the nature of the beast of the flu virus sadly.:pray