Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "Values in the ICU: Ethical Acceptability of a Reserve System for Limited Intensive Care Resources", led by Elizabeth Fenton, PhD

Values in the ICU: Ethical Acceptability of a Reserve System for Limited Intensive Care Resources
 

Elizabeth Fenton, PhD

Senior Lecturer
Bioethics Center
University of Otago

This talk reports and discusses the results from a small study conducted in New Zealand examining the ethical acceptability of a reserve bed system (RBS) to advance equity in the allocation of limited intenstive care unit (ICU) resources during a public health emergency. The RBS proposes that a proportion of ICU beds is set aside or ring-fenced for certain priority or protected groups, such as minority racial and ethnic populations, who might otherwise be disadvantaged in accessing ICU care. We interviewed ICU clinicians, nurses, and policy makers to understand whether a RBS would be ethically acceptable to them working in a New Zealand context, where significant health inequities between indigenous Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders persist.

 Lunch provided for in person participants. Streaming available via Zoom.