1. Home page
  2. Search

The Possibilities, Limits, and Complexities of Triage in COVID-19 Regime

This item is provided by the institution :
Applied Philosophy Research Laboratory   

Repository :
Conatus  | ΕΚΤ eJournals   

see the original item page
in the repository's web site and access all digital files if the item*



The Possibilities, Limits, and Complexities of Triage in COVID-19 Regime (EN)
Okorie, Ndukaku
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
2023-06-30
The new and prevailing Corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic is an extremely contagious virus. Scientific research has gone far in the study and treatment of the virus. One of the things known about it at present is that its spread depends on social contact. In this paper, I consider the challenge that allocation of scarce medical resources poses in the fight against COVID-19. Millions have been infected, just as the number of diseased also runs in thousands. The allocation of scarce medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic regime poses a challenge to healthcare providers. In attempting to save the lives of COVID-19 patients, how should we allocate ventilators or vaccines? Since ventilators, or as at present vaccines, are scarce compared to the number of patients that need it for survival, who should get one? To address this challenge, healthcare providers often resort to triage, especially in Emergency Departments (EDs) and intensive care units (ICUs). In this paper, I discuss the possibilities, limits, and complexities associated with the principle of triage in the distribution of scarce medical resources in the treatment and attempt to save the lives of COVID-19 patients. I contend that triage as a principle of distribution of scarce health resources fails in the distribution of scarce life-saving resources to COVID-19 patients. I aim to show that the triage protocol approach fails in terms of clinical and non-clinical evidence as well as regarding procedural issues associated with its application. (EN)
COVID-19 (EN)
complexities (EN)
social utility (EN)
scarcity (EN)
medical utility (EN)
triage (EN)
Conatus-Περιοδικό Φιλοσοφίας
English
The NKUA Applied Philosophy Research Laboratory (EN)
2459-3842
2653-9373
Conatus - Περιοδικό Φιλοσοφίας; Τόμ. 8 Αρ. 1 (2023): Conatus - Journal of Philosophy; 233-249 (EL)
Conatus - Journal of Philosophy; Vol. 8 No. 1 (2023): Conatus - Journal of Philosophy; 233-249 (EN)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Copyright (c) 2023 Ndukaku Okorie (EN)
Applied Philosophy Research Laboratory
Conatus
Articles



*Institutions are responsible for keeping their URLs functional (digital file, item page in repository site)