Who gets to live? How doctors make impossible decisions as COVID-19 surges
Eighteen states are currently in what’s considered the “red zone” by the White House coronavirus task force, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people last week. Additionally, 14 states currently have more than 70 percent of their ICU capacity occupied.
Such dire straits raise important questions: how best to care for patients when there aren’t enough resources to go around—and who has to make those triage decisions.
Experts including U-M School of Nursing Assistant Professor Deena Kelly Costa weigh in on providing the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of patients.
