How would you treat them? You don't have enough ventilators for everyone who needs them.
Medical ethicists debate this scenario all the time.
look what happened w/Katrina
I was in Las Vegas when the MGM was on fire.(myself and several of my girlfriends went there for the week end) We were staying at the Aladdin just behind the MGM..volunteered because I was a nurse, worked in front of the hotel with a para medic...Some were sent in ambulance to hospital, some were sent with a volunteer to assist them up to the corner (Barbary Coast Casino) I think. The dead were left in the building until all the fire was out and their bodies were removed from the roof via helicopter...
The whole afternoon was surreal like it really wasn't happening, but it was...
It took quite a while but finally the military helicopters arrived and lifted those that made it to the roof off and set them down in a large open area behind the MGM. I think the helicopters were called Stallions (but I could be wrong) 3 people jumped from the 24th floor down onto the street. Others were using sheets to climb down and the ladder trucks could only make it to the 9th floor of a 25 floor building...After that fire all the rules for fire safety were changed for Las Vegas....
Life and death decisions are made everyday, its just not the damn governments business making them...
PS The power of those birds to lift water off the street from 25 stories up and slam ambulance doors if you didn't use all your weight to keep them open was awesome..The front of that casino did look like a war zone, fire engines, ambulance's screaming in and out people yelling and lots of people just standing in shock. Many that were able to walk out were dazed, but we did have to ask lots of medical questions like what meds are you on. Did you take your heart pills this morning etc....organized chaos