Saving the most lives-A comparison of European triage guidelines in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hans-Joerg EhniUrban WiesingRobert RanischPublished in: Bioethics (2020)
In March 2020, the rapid increase in severe COVID-19 cases overwhelmed the healthcare systems in several European countries. The capacities for artificial ventilation in intensive care units were too scarce to care for patients with acute respiratory disorder connected to the disease. Several professional associations published COVID-19 triage recommendations in an extremely short time: in 21 days between March 6 and March 27. In this article, we compare recommendations from five European countries, which combine medical and ethical reflections on this situation in some detail. Our aim is to provide a detailed overview on the ethical elements of the recommendations, the differences between them and their coherence. In more general terms we want to identify shortcomings in regard to a common European response to the current situation.
Keyphrases
- healthcare
- coronavirus disease
- sars cov
- emergency department
- clinical practice
- intensive care unit
- mechanical ventilation
- decision making
- palliative care
- respiratory syndrome coronavirus
- quality improvement
- respiratory failure
- early onset
- affordable care act
- health information
- health insurance
- acute respiratory distress syndrome
- drug induced
- loop mediated isothermal amplification
- social media
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- sensitive detection