TY - JOUR
T1 - ICU triage
T2 - the potential legal liability of withdrawing ICU care during a catastrophic event.
AU - Mareiniss, Darren P.
AU - Levy, Frederick
AU - Regan, Linda
PY - 2011/11/1
Y1 - 2011/11/1
N2 - In the event of a catastrophic disaster, healthcare resources may be completely overwhelmed. To address this, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has recommended using "crisis standards of care"during such an event. These standards would recommend allocating scarce medical resources to do the greatest good for the greatest number of patients. In a dire catastrophic event, such standards may include the allocation of intensive care unit (ICU) resources to maximize patient survival. Triage protocols that seek to efficiently allocate ICU resources during a disaster have been reviewed by the Institute of Medicine. Such protocols suggest the exclusion of patients with high mortality or high resource requirements from ICU care to do the most good for the greatest number of patients. In extreme circumstances, these protocols recommend withdrawing ICU resources from sicker patients in favor of more salvageable patients. However, if providers were to follow the earlier protocols in a disaster and withdraw and reallocate ICU care, criminal or civil liability could result. Two legal solutions to avoid this potential for liability have been suggested in this article.
AB - In the event of a catastrophic disaster, healthcare resources may be completely overwhelmed. To address this, the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has recommended using "crisis standards of care"during such an event. These standards would recommend allocating scarce medical resources to do the greatest good for the greatest number of patients. In a dire catastrophic event, such standards may include the allocation of intensive care unit (ICU) resources to maximize patient survival. Triage protocols that seek to efficiently allocate ICU resources during a disaster have been reviewed by the Institute of Medicine. Such protocols suggest the exclusion of patients with high mortality or high resource requirements from ICU care to do the most good for the greatest number of patients. In extreme circumstances, these protocols recommend withdrawing ICU resources from sicker patients in favor of more salvageable patients. However, if providers were to follow the earlier protocols in a disaster and withdraw and reallocate ICU care, criminal or civil liability could result. Two legal solutions to avoid this potential for liability have been suggested in this article.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859399324&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84859399324&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 22338314
AN - SCOPUS:84859399324
SN - 1932-149X
VL - 6
SP - 329
EP - 338
JO - American journal of disaster medicine
JF - American journal of disaster medicine
IS - 6
ER -