Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Pre-Hospital Triage Decision Making in Times of Scarce Resources – a Mixed Method Study within the Swiss Healthcare Setting"

12:00pm - 1:00pm • Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom)

2025-07-22 12:00:00 2025-07-22 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Pre-Hospital Triage Decision Making in Times of Scarce Resources – a Mixed Method Study within the Swiss Healthcare Setting" Pre-Hospital Triage Decision Making in Times of Scarce Resources – a Mixed Method Study within the Swiss Healthcare Setting Elisabeth Stock Scientific Assistant PhD Candidate Institute for Biomedical Ethics Basel Switzerland The COVID-19 pandemic raised numerous ethical questions around the use of limited medical resources in emergency situations and beyond. In response, guidelines were drafted and implemented to ensure ethically sound rationing of critical resources. Numerous ethical guidelines have been developed on how to triage patients in hospitals, in cases where extensive medical care cannot be provided to all patients who need it. However, much less attention was given to drafting guidance on pre- and peri-hospital management under conditions of scarcity. Hence, there is little literature on direct or indirect forms of pre-hospital triage, which can often be implicit or non-transparent. This is problematic, as there are signs that some forms of triage happened in the pre- or peri-hospitalisation period, creating ethically questionable disparities, particularly concerning older patients. To explore the pre-triage mechanisms applied in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic amid medical resource scarcity, a qualitative interview study was carried out with 57 healthcare professionals from various Swiss healthcare organizations. Further, a survey was conducted with 213 older patients from four geriatric clinics to gather their opinions on the allocation of scarce medical resources. The aim of the presentation is to share the key findings of the study on our participants' experiences, perceptions, and opinions regarding pre-triage mechanisms during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Streaming available via Zoom. Hybrid: 1402 Blockley Hall, 423 Guardian Drive (and virtual via Zoom) Penn Medical Ethics

The COVID-19 pandemic raised numerous ethical questions around the use of limited medical
resources in emergency situations and beyond. In response, guidelines were drafted and
implemented to ensure ethically sound rationing of critical resources. Numerous ethical
guidelines have been developed on how to triage patients in hospitals, in cases where
extensive medical care cannot be provided to all patients who need it. However, much less
attention was given to drafting guidance on pre- and peri-hospital management under
conditions of scarcity. Hence, there is little literature on direct or indirect forms of pre-hospital
triage, which can often be implicit or non-transparent. This is problematic, as there are signs
that some forms of triage happened in the pre- or peri-hospitalisation period, creating
ethically questionable disparities, particularly concerning older patients.

To explore the pre-triage mechanisms applied in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic
amid medical resource scarcity, a qualitative interview study was carried out with 57
healthcare professionals from various Swiss healthcare organizations. Further, a survey was
conducted with 213 older patients from four geriatric clinics to gather their opinions on the
allocation of scarce medical resources.

The aim of the presentation is to share the key findings of the study on our participants'
experiences, perceptions, and opinions regarding pre-triage mechanisms during the COVID-
19 pandemic.