Treyfish
Moderator
<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_subheadline_preview" START -->Report outlines tough choices facing health-care system during flu emergency<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_subheadline_preview" END -->
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A medic in protective gear holds a child being checked for swine-flu symptoms earlier this year in Mexico City. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE)
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October 17, 2009<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_display_time_preview" END -->
<!-- sphereit start --><!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" START -->Florida health officials are drawing up guidelines that recommend barring patients with incurable cancer, end-stage multiple sclerosis and other conditions from being admitted to hospitals if the state is overwhelmed by flu cases.
The plan, which would guide Florida hospitals on how to ration scarce medical care during a severe flu outbreak, also calls for doctors to remove patients with a poor prognosis from ventilators to treat those with better chances of survival. That decision would be made by each hospital.
The flu causes severe respiratory illnesses in a small proportion of cases, and people who need ventilators and are deprived of them could die without the breathing help the machines provide.
In June, Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros sent the draft guidelines, which already had undergone a series of internal revisions, to 16 state medical organizations for comment.
But the state has not yet publicized the guidelines or solicited input from the general public.
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:tiphat:http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-emergency-flu-plan-101709,0,6298556,full.story
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October 17, 2009<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_display_time_preview" END -->
<!-- sphereit start --><!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" START -->Florida health officials are drawing up guidelines that recommend barring patients with incurable cancer, end-stage multiple sclerosis and other conditions from being admitted to hospitals if the state is overwhelmed by flu cases.
The plan, which would guide Florida hospitals on how to ration scarce medical care during a severe flu outbreak, also calls for doctors to remove patients with a poor prognosis from ventilators to treat those with better chances of survival. That decision would be made by each hospital.
The flu causes severe respiratory illnesses in a small proportion of cases, and people who need ventilators and are deprived of them could die without the breathing help the machines provide.
In June, Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros sent the draft guidelines, which already had undergone a series of internal revisions, to 16 state medical organizations for comment.
But the state has not yet publicized the guidelines or solicited input from the general public.
snip
:tiphat:http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-emergency-flu-plan-101709,0,6298556,full.story
