In 2020, with adult ICUs at risk of being overwhelmed, we wore masks and accepted restrictions. Now pediatric intensive care is at risk. Will leaders follow the evidence and tell us to mask up?
Eliana Close, Queensland University of Technology; Ben White, Queensland University of Technology; Lindy Willmott, Queensland University of Technology; Simon Young, University of Southern Queensland; Tina Cockburn, Queensland University of Technology, and Will Cairns, James Cook University
Who gets scarce life-saving resources when hospitals are overwhelmed? And how are these decisions made? State and territory governments are yet to answer these difficult questions.
The term ‘intubation’ is used when experts talk about treating patients with severe COVID-19. But this medical term doesn’t explain the traumatic procedure involved.
People with disabilities are overlooked for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and triage protocols. We need to make this group a priority and address issues that put them at risk.
We can strike a balance between minimising transmission risk and practising compassion to allow loved ones to visit patients with COVID-19 in ICU at the end of their lives.
COVID-19 is creating overwhelming needs for intensive care and testing facilities. An Australian team is developing purpose-built units that can be shipped and erected quickly, easily and cheaply.
Doctors are being forced to make difficult choices regarding who gets ventilators in this pandemic. An expert argues why this has parallels with choices soldiers have to make during wartime.
Rather than basing decisions about ICU access on age, clinicians need to consider the potential benefits and burdens of treatments proposed for every patient.
Klaus W. Larres, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Germans are struggling like the rest of the world with the coronavirus. And while Germans have a strong safety net and medical system, one thing may fall victim to the virus: relations with the US.
In the most severe cases, COVID-19 patients need oxygen pumped directly into their airways, or even be hooked up to a machine that does the job of their heart and lungs.
Hospitals will need more space, staff and stuff as more people test positive to coronavirus. But hard decisions may have to be made if the health system gets overwhelmed with cases.
Australians should now be practising social distancing to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. By creating more space between yourself and others you decrease the risk of person-to-person…
How do we develop new drugs quickly yet safely? How prepared are we to give up some personal freedoms? And how do we allocate scarce resources? These are just some of the tough questions we face.
Professor of Bioethics & Medicine, Sydney Health Ethics, Haematologist/BMT Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital and Director, Praxis Australia, University of Sydney