Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/28/alabama-disaster-plan-would-de.html
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Call Sarah Palin - we found her death panels.
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I don’t think she can answer the phone from inside that bear head.
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Thanks Alabama. I’m glad I grew up in Maine, my brother might not have lived as long as he did if we’d lived in the land of Christian prosperity eugenics. Fuck - and I cannot stress this enough - these puss filled jack rabbit intestines.
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You might want to remove that graphic, before it’s hijacked by some as a badge of honor.
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Being in ICU sucks amazingly. Being restrained makes it worse (if you think bedsores are bad, you should see what restraints do.) Being sedated does not go well with the other aspects either. Not to mention the additional load all of these conditions place on already overstressed caregivers.
Fortunately, the worst I’ve ever had to deal with was a combative head trauma patient or twelve. The idea of an ICU patient who doesn’t want you running a tube down his throat … no thanks.
So if your patient is unable to cooperate at least minimally, their chances of recovery get even worse.
Totally crappy situation all around. Welcome to triage.
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Alabama disaster plan would deny treatment to those with “severe mental retardation”
That’s every TGOP’er a’hole associated with tRump Co.
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It’s possible to frame this in positive terms – that priority goes to patients with the best chance of recovery and who need the least care generally – so the language in itself is deeply slimy.
But it amounts to the same reality; if care has to be rationed, this is the kind of decision that will mean. The primary goal is to avoid having to ration care in the first place.
I’m not sure how widely this is understood. Social distancing isn’t about never getting coronavirus, so much as spacing out the cases enough that healthcare will be available when you get infected. Containing the virus completely, without a vaccine, is a stretch goal at best.
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It’s possible to frame this in positive terms – that priority goes to patients with the best chance of recovery and who need the least care generally – so the language in itself is deeply slimy.
But it amounts to the same reality; if care has to be rationed, this is the kind of decision that will mean. The primary goal is to avoid having to ration care in the first place.
Fuck… How about care is prioritised to those with the least chance of recovery without care first. What the hell does mental health have to do with deciding life ?
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Cruelty is not a bug, it’s a feature.
Right wing mentality working as intended.
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Seriously - how does one triage? Impossible decisions are coming (like they did in Italy).
Calling all ethics professors!
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Well, the reality is when our ability to provide care is exceeded by the number needing care, decisions have to be made as to who to prioritize. I don’t think mental ability should be a deciding factor. I mean a kid with downs syndrome vs a 75 year old, who gets the care? Or is “severe mental retardation” only those who basically require around the clock care and can’t feed themselves etc. Even then, they are still people and any decisions that have to be made are going to be the definition of tragedy.
Even if there is some valid point that some conditions might be used in determining who gets care, it reeks of eugenics. I am so glad I don’t have to wrestle with these inevitable conundrums. This is going to be a dark time for our doctors and nurses, who already have painful decisions they have to make before this.
I have a friend who is a heart nurse who also has written things about “end of life care” where you have to recognize the signs of dying and no medical care in the world is going to stop it and you just have to make them comfortable. The toll death has on health care workers can be an overburdening weight.
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It was only a matter of time before right-wing eugenicists seized their opportunity in this crisis.
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Under this administration, they will be the first to be “euthanized.”
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So we soak up 30 caregiver hours trying (and failing) to save someone with negligible chance of survival while letting six others with otherwise excellent chances die from lack of care?
I don’t think you mean that.
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I think their triage standards are wrong, but they are at least writing them down. I was hearing constant complaints from some friends in nursing who were concerned about the subtle racism and casual cruelty of some of their coworkers. Those biases will reflect in the final death toll if we don’t codify standards.
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A quick googling says: pretty much?
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Yeah. People ARE going to die because they didn’t get the medical care that could have saved their lives. This is already happening in Italy, where they don’t put elderly patients on their limited supply of ventilators. They prioritize patients that are likely to recover quickly (so that the ventilator can then be used for another patient) and those that are younger (potentially giving somebody 30 more years of life rather than 10) I’m with you, I so don’t envy those that are forced to make decisions like this.
Yes, we do need make more ventilators, and masks and medical technicians as fast as we can. But that will not be enough. Time to do so is our most precious commodity, and we have already squandered much of it. And that is what all the social distancing and lockdowns give us just a little bit more of. They are NOT going to prevent millions from coming down with COVID 19, and 10s or 100s of thousands from dying. But flattening the curve will reduce the number of people critically sick and any one time, and so save lives.
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My grandmother has dementia. She has to be kept sedated or else she tries to harm her caregivers. She has no idea who anyone is anymore other than a nebulous idea that we’re probably her family. Whoever she was, that person is gone and they’re not coming back. Our entire family agrees that if she gets any fatal disease, just give her palliative care and let her go.
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I agree with your main point. But the subtle racism and casual cruelty will persist regardless. Writing policies that add a layer of explicit, formalized cruelty and racism (or other ism) is even worse.
Let’s do this the American Way ™: Priority goes to those who can pay. /s
