Hospitals in Ontario have received a much-anticipated document that lays out the criteria to be used if intensive care units fill up and medical resources are scarce.
According to the document, titled “Adult Critical Care Clinical Emergency Standard of Care for Major Surge” and prepared by the province’s critical care COVID-19 command centre – patients will be scored by doctors on a “short-term mortality risk assessment.”
“Aim to prioritize those patients who are most likely to survive their critical illness,” the document notes.
“Patients who have a high likelihood of dying within twelve months from the onset of their episode of critical illness (based on an evaluation of their clinical presentation at the point of triage) would have a lower priority for critical care resources,” the document reads.
It lists three levels of critical care triage:
“Level 1 triage deprioritizes critical care resources for patients with a predicted mortality greater than 80 per cent,” the document notes.
“Level 2 triage deprioritizes critical care resources for patients with a predicted mortality (greater than) 50 per cent.”
At Level 3 triage, patients with predicted mortality of 30 per cent – or a 70 per cent chance of surviving beyond a year – will not receive critical care. At this stage, patients who have suffered a cardiac arrest will be deprioritized for critical care, as their predicted mortality is greater than 30 per cent.
[Interesting Read]
See Also:
(1) Vaccine debacle triggers scramble to make do with existing supply
(2) Ontario looks to expand critical care capacity with addition of more than 500 hospital beds
(3) Tackling Ontario’s bloated bureaucracy should be first priority for new finance minister
(4) Vaccine shortage means tough choices
(5) Pandemic open debate is important
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