Inclusion Daily Express -- Influential Task Force Decides Who Would Die In A Disaster

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Influential Task Force Decides Who Would Die In A Disaster
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 7, 2008

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--A group of doctors from universities, the U.S. military and government agencies has decided who will be last to receive lifesaving treatment in a major flu pandemic or other disaster -- or will not receive such treatment at all.

It's likely you or I might be on that list, not to mention people we care deeply about.

The May edition of Chest, the medical journal of the American College of Chest Physicians, published the report from a task force made up of physicians from groups including several university hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The recommendations were developed during the Task Force for Mass Critical Care Summit Meeting held in January of 2007 in Chicago.

The authors of the report explained that since there likely won't be enough resources for everyone in a disaster, doctors and hospital personnel should understand ahead of time which patients would be left out.

Specifically, those would include people over age 85; patients with severe traumatic injuries; severely burned patients over age 60; patients with "severe mental impairment"; and people with severe chronic diseases, such as advanced heart disease, lung disease or poorly controlled diabetes.

"If a mass casualty critical care event were to occur tomorrow, many people with clinical conditions that are survivable under usual health care system conditions may have to forgo life-sustaining interventions owing to deficiencies in supply or staffing," the report states.

Critics point out that the recommendations would hit hardest the people who are already the most vulnerable because of low-income, illness or disability.

Copyright © 2008 Inonit Publishing
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