Allocating Ventilators in a Pandemic

Date: 

Monday, May 4, 2020, 5:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Online

Registration will close at 2pm on Monday, May 4th. As the current pandemic unfolds, many have been concerned that our hospitals may not have enough ventilators for all who might need one. Although it now appears likely that the supply will be sufficient for the time being, the future remains uncertain, and this is a good opportunity for a societal discussion about how hospitals will decide who will receive a ventilator, and who will not, if these decisions ever become necessary.

What can we learn from other past situations where it has been necessary to ration other life-saving treatments, such as dialysis machines in the 1960s, or the current and ongoing need to ration transplantable organs?

In the current pandemic, how are hospitals planning to ration ventilators, if necessary? How do factors such as predictors of survival, whether the patient has other serious medical conditions, whether to favor the young over the elderly, and whether healthcare workers should get priority, factor into these protocols? How do we assure that we do not unfairly disadvantage those with disabilities or those who suffer from chronic illnesses associated with socioeconomic disparities?

Discussants will include:

Robert D. Truog MD, director of the Center for Bioethics, and Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Medical Ethics, Anaesthesia, & Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

Mildred Z. Solomon, president of the Hastings Center and Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School

David S. Jones, MD PhD, A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine, Harvard University

Fellow moderator: Scot Bateman, MD, Director, Office of Ethics, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Professor of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology, UMass Medical School

Click here to learn more and register.