Allocation of Scarce Critical Care Resources During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency in South Africa
Guidance documents released by SASA around COVID-19. Published 06 April 2020.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the triage of critically ill patients in the event that a public health emergency creates demand for critical care resources (e.g., ventilators, critical care beds) that outstrips the supply.
These triage recommendations will be enacted only if:
1) critical care capacity is, or will shortly be, overwhelmed despite taking all appropriate steps to increase the surge capacity to care for critically ill patients; and
2) His Excellency, the President of South Africa has declared a public health emergency.•
This allocation framework is grounded in ethical obligations that include:
duty to care,
duty to steward resources to optimize population health
distributive and procedural justice, and
transparency.
It is consistent with existing recommendations for how to allocate scarce critical care resources during a public health emergency.
This document is based largely on The University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania guidelines from whom we have borrowed liberally with permission, with modifications as were deemed necessary.
This document describes:
I. The creation of triage teams to ensure consistent decision making;
II. Allocation criteria for initial allocation of critical care resources; and
III. Reassessment criteria to determine whether ongoing provision of scarce critical care resources are justified for individual patients.
These guidelines have been published by Critical Care Association of South Africa andendorsed by the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists. EMGuidance confirms that it is not the owner of the information provided, nor does it intend to present it as such.