Scarce Resource Allocation During Disasters: A Mixed-Method Community Engagement Study

摘要

During most disasters, the existing health-care system can care for patients without major alterations in the standard of care. However, during a catastrophic event, there may not be enough resources for all who need them, making it hard or impossible to maintain conventional standards of care. In such circumstances, difficult questions will arise regarding who will receive access to limited life-saving resources. How and according to which ethical principles should these decisions be made?These questions have been explored by others largely through conceptual analyses in the ethics literature or recommendations offered by panels of experts.