Saving the most lives-A comparison of European triage guidelines in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

In March 2020, the rapid increase in severe COVID-19 cases overwhelmed the healthcare systems in several European countries. The capacities for artificial ventilation in intensive care units were too scarce to care for patients with acute respiratory disorder connected to the disease. Several professional associations published COVID-19 triage recommendations in an extremely short time: in 21 days between March 6 and March 27. In this article, we compare recommendations from five European countries, which combine medical and ethical reflections on this situation in some detail. Our aim is to provide a detailed overview on the ethical elements of the recommendations, the differences between them and their coherence. In more general terms we want to identify shortcomings in regard to a common European response to the current situation.

Automated summary

The article compares recommendations from five European countries on COVID-19 triage, aiming to explore the medical and ethical aspects in detail. The study seeks to identify ethical issues and coherence problems in these recommendations. Additionally, the authors hope to uncover shortcomings in a common European response to the current situation.