Someone has said that we live in a finite world as humans with infinite wants. That presents a problem. The problem is further compounded when we realize that the wants we have can be broken down into smaller components, called needs. The prompt asks for a decision on the process of scarce resource allocation in “a hospital setting where there are limited resources available to treat patients who are seriously ill. There are short supplies of medicine, doctors, nurses, and very expensive, highly-sophisticated, diagnostic equipment.”
I do not think that there is a set-in-stone procedure that will work for this entire setting. I think each resource has to be dealt with individually and allocated accordingly. For example, I do not think you can spread the nurses and equipment over exactly identical areas because nurses are far more numerous. Therefore, the resources cannot be distributed by formulas because neither three patients to one resource nor two of resource A to one of resource B is a functional equation. There has to be another standard.
The purpose of the medical world is to retard or reverse suffering. It was developed to help humankind in general; very rarely have advancements been made for only a single individual. Perhaps by one person, but for the benefit of the general populace. Therefore, those who are in need must be categorized into three categories: those who will most likely survive independent of treatment, those who will most likely survive but only if they are treated, and those who will most likely not survive even if treated. The first and last groups should go untreated. The middle group should be arranged from least amount of care needed to most, and treatment should begin with the least and build up to the most needed. This will provide for the maximum number of lives to be saved, which is the purpose of today’s medical environment.
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