[meyer]

Ironically, in the coming nationalized medical care system with its expected shortage of personnel, we'll likely see the same list of criteria applied sans any epidemic. There won't be enough trained medical personnel to treat all, so there will be choices as to who to treat.

I'm sure that politics won't play a role in those decisions. [/s]

[ziravan]

"Ironically, in the coming nationalized medical care system with its expected shortage of personnel, we'll likely see the same list of criteria applied sans any epidemic. There won't be enough trained medical personnel to treat all, so there will be choices as to who to treat."

I read a few years ago the the federal government anticipates and operates its pandemic planning on the idea that 10-20% of health care professionals will not show up for work during a crisis.

Anybody really believe that the number of health care professionals self-isolating and refusing to come to work will be that low?

My guess: 40-50%. We were talking about this at work last night. This was a common refrain: "They can fire me if they want, if it comes down to a choice between my job and infecting my children from something I got at work, my kids come first." If you don't think that hospitals need a plan for a 500% increase in patient load simultaneous to a 50% or greater reduction of staffing, you aren't being realistic.

I hear people complain about how heartless it is to conceive of a way to save the maximum number of lives possible in an emergency. To the contrary, NOT trying to save the maximum number of lives would be heartless.

It's always amazing that liberals describe my professional services as a "right" for somebody else. No. Only I have a "right" to decide where I will be at any given time, and that includes a pandemic. For the record, I will probably work because my ethics would demand it - not because the government, my employer or anybody else would claim the "right" to my services.

Timothy, Critical Care RN.