Shortages of ventilators create heart wrenching decisions.
As the coronavirus pandemic attacks people across the globe, more and more physicians are finding a shortage of life-saving devices. Thousands of ventilators from the U.S. stockpile are also not operational, according to reports from the American Association for Respiratory Care. Medical professionals on the front lines are being forced into making heart-wrenching decisions: who will receive a ventilator and who won’t.
“Doctors have always exercised some sort of deliberation upon whether medical resources can be beneficial for patients, (and) whether patients can become better through the use of a ventilator,” Dr. Holly Wilson, a professor at Louisiana State University Online who specializes in bioethics and medical ethics, said. “Sometimes, doctors have to consider a medical intervention to be medically futile. It is at that point that the hospital ethics committee steps in and helps make the decision because often the family or surrogate does not agree.”
She continued, “And for that reason, even more, a triage committee or an ethics committee should be involved. Doctors should not be overly stressed by having to make a decision that could mean the death of a patient.”
Doctors, triage committee members, and ethics committee members need prayer right now as they face these seemingly impossible or “no-win” decisions.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For each doctor, member of an ethics committee, hospital chaplain, visiting pastor, surrogate or family member faced with the life-and-death decisions of a patient with the COVID-19 virus.
- For President Trump and others who working to reduce red tape and authorizing the fabrication of ventilators by auto-making companies and others.
- For FEMA officials and others working to get the most in medical supplies to the places where the needs are greatest.
Sources: Fox News, NY Times
