Triage happens in every medical system, socialized or not, and particularly in times of disaster or emergency. It also happens in American hospitals every day in the case of a bad night in their city. It sucks. But it’s the only way we have to make sure limited resources go as far as they can to do the most good.
If there is a 79 year old grandmother who is a smoker and has existing heart arrhythmia and a 28 year old pregnant expecting mother with no pre-existing conditions both needing a ventilator and there’s only one available... sorry, but grandma is going to be put down the list and the 28 year old is going to be hooked up, because grandma is more likely to die even if given treatment. That would mean that the ventilator was wasted and two people died when one could possibly have been saved. Three, if you count the developing baby.
The traditional medical ethic of the golden age of medicine turned their backs on such situational ethic. Whomever came first got optimal, even extraordinary care IF THEY WANTED IT.
In that ethical world doctors were always healers and never killers by neglect or intentionally.
Your seeming acceptance of such utilitarian triage helps destroy a previous culture built by men and women of the Hippocratic Oath.
The traditional medical ethic of the golden age of medicine turned their backs on such situational ethic. Whomever came first got optimal, even extraordinary care IF THEY WANTED IT.
In that ethical world doctors were always healers and never killers by neglect or intentionally.
Your seeming acceptance of such utilitarian triage helps destroy a previous culture built by men and women of the Hippocratic Oath.
Triage should not be a common thing. We should not regularly be short on resources. You should only see triage in a mass tragedy like a war or major accident or disaster. Triage based on who is more likely to survive makes sense. Based solely on a person’s age is just discrimination.