In the midst of tragedies there are always miserable beings, this time an Italian medical guild has broken the mold, and the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Reanimation and Intensive Therapy (SIAARTI) has recently released a series of recommendations for Doctors in this country severely affected by covid-19, in which the criterion of giving priority to “who is most likely to survive” to the disease is present.
In this way, the document confirms the statements of the Italian doctor specialized in anesthesia and resuscitation, Christian Salaroli, who on Monday revealed that they have to choose who to treat and who not “according to age and health conditions, as in all situations of war “due to the disproportion between hospital resources, resuscitation beds and critically ill patients.
The SIAARTI document, entitled ‘Recommendations for clinical ethics for admission to intensive care and its suspension, in exceptional conditions of imbalance between needs and available resources’, contains a total of 15 points.
Its objective is to offer support to those forced to make in a short time the “painful decisions from an ethical and clinical point of view”, that is, which patients undergo intensive treatment when resources are insufficient.
“The longest life expectancy is privileged”
“The SIAARTI document privileges the longest life expectancy: this means that it is not necessary to have to follow a criterion of access to intensive care of the type ‘first to arrive, first to be cared for’,” the organization reported.
“It may be necessary to put an age limit on admission to intensive care. It is necessary to reserve resources that can be very scarce,” added the Society.
