Police, firefighters prepare for H1N1 outbreak

Florida hospitals are making plans of their own...

"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."

" It says those decisions are not to be made based on patients’ perceived social worth or social role, but the plan calls for different rules for some populations.

The list of conditions that disqualify hospital admission would be applied to most people only in the two most severe levels of a pandemic. However, they would be applied in the first level of a pandemic for people transferred to hospitals from “other institutional facilities” such as nursing homes and mental-health centers."

http://www.propublica.org/feature/in-flu-pandemic-states-hospitals-may-exclude-certain-patients-1016

Sounds like Obama-care: ration the care and let the old and less desirable people die.

 

This is more than deciding who should be admitted.

"...also calls for doctors to remove patients with a poor prognosis from ventilators..."

It is also making decisions for admission based on nothing more than age and supposed value to society... "different rules for some populations."

Why is the life of an older person less important or valued than the life of a younger person?

Why is the life of someone currently residing in a mental health institution less valued than any other life?

Why aren't emergency contingencies being established to attempt to deal with all of those in need of health care? Such as converting gymnasiums into emergency health care centers?

 

False dichotomy.

My solution would be to prepare for the flu patients that they are expecting rather than coming up with a plan that amounts to nothing more than throwing the sick out into the streets.

 

This isn't 1918. Medical science has improved.

Since the health agency knows what is coming it is something that can be planned for.

There are plenty of unemployed with adequate skills to care for these expected patients.

There is plenty of medical equipment warehoused by manufacturers, remanufactures and leasing companies.

Cost should not be consideration since many of the expected patients will have insurance and the Federal government has shown no restraint in spending money that we don't have so why would this be any different?

Why are you so pessimistic?

 

Right now, our hospitals are not overwhelmed because all but the most severe cases are sent home to recover. There is no need to panic about a lack of hospital care, because the hospital is not needed UNLESS the person suffers a secondary complication, like pneumonia or dehydration. Most of us don't want to pay the exorbitant health care cost of hospitalization if we can possibly help it, even if we have insurance to help, so I would think only two types of people would want to stay at the hospitals: those who truly are deathly ill with H1N1 complications, or people who aren't paying for their healthcare out of their own pocket.

 

Check out CDC guidelines... http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/sick.htm

 

If you are asking the question of
"How many will die of this flu?"
No one knows.
If someone who has the worst case anyone has ever seen has it, and God wants that person to live, that person will.
If someone has the lightest case of the same flu, and God decides it is time to call that person home, that person will be gone.
If you are asking who WE will determine who lives or who dies, from the flu or any other disease or ailment.
We don't have that determination. Or the ability.

 

I have given you the answer more than once.

Rather than plan on who will be denied care - plan to care for those who need it.

They are planning on a bunch of flu patients - why not plan on treating them in addition to the other patients?'

Why is this such a difficult concept for you?

 

Your question is like asking "have you stopped beating your wife?"

I notice that the false dichotomy is a frequent debate method of yours.

I am apologize that my thinking is not small enough to suit you.

Which would you choose: prepare to care for an anticipated increased number of flu patients or start throwing existing patients into the street?

 

But of course, we would consult CTB...because he is so much wiser than all of us...

 

I find it quite amusing that your opening posts references "creative thinking" but you are incapable of considering any where it comes to caring for an "anticipated" increase in patients due to the flu.

This is not going to be an unexpected increase. They know that it is coming. There are resources to deal with it.

Why are you so against planning ahead?

Where is your creative thinking?

In my opinion not to prepare for the increase in patients would amount to nothing short of criminal neglect.

If these guys can't do the job they should be replaced now.

 

I have answered it repeatedly.

The answer just isn't small enough to suit you.

And it also doesn't fit with the current lib paradigm of creating a crisis where one doesn't exist in order to grab power.