Three Patients

1. Summaries of Medical Comments

   1. Patient A

      1. A Multilevel Examination of a Critically Ill Patient

         • Jack K. Kilcullen

         Pages 117-129

   2. Patient B

      1. The Decision-Making Process

         • Rolando Berger

         Pages 133-137

      2. Should Patient B Receive Critical Care?

         • Jean-Louis Vincent

         Pages 139-144

      3. The Yin and Yang of Critical Care

         • Ivor S. Douglas

         Pages 145-150

   3. Patient C

      1. Treatment of a “Classic” Intensive Care Unit Patient

         • Mitchell Levy

         Pages 153-161

      2. Should This Patient Be Admitted to a Critical Care Unit?

         • David Crippen

         Pages 163-175

      3. Multiple Organ Failure and Intensive Care

         • Richard Burrows

         Pages 177-186

2. General Multidisciplinary Survey

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 187-187

      PDF

   2. Discussion of the Medical Aspects of Futility

      • David Crippen

      Pages 189-203

   3. Discussion of the Ethical Aspects of Futility

      • David F. Kelly

      Pages 205-220

   4. Waiting for the Cavalry

      • Jack K. Kilcullen

      Pages 221-244

3. Comments From Paramedical Providers

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 245-245

      PDF

   2. End-of-Life Care in the Intensive Care Unit

      • Gabriele Ford

      Pages 247-251

   3. Advanced Medical Technology and End of Life

      • David H. Walker

      Pages 253-256

   4. Medical Futility

      • Leslie Beckhart Jenal

      Pages 257-263

4. Back Matter

   Pages 265-275

   PDF

This volume explores how the scarce resources of intensive care units should be distributed. Three hypothetical patients, each with a different chance of survival, desire intensive care. A multinational panel of experienced critical care physicians offers assessments of the patients' conditions and outlines approaches to treatment. These approaches are then examined by academic medical experts and a medical ethicist, as well as from a legal perspective. The result is a well-rounded and introspective look at care for critically ill patients at or near the end of life.

• Atmen
• care
• critical care
• intensive care
• multiple organ failure

"this book provides a very interesting and stimulating dialogue on the increasingly complex end-of-life issues that are so relevant to the practice of intensive care medicine."
(Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, October (2002)

• Departments of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, St. Francis Medical Center, Pittsburgh, USA

  David Crippen

• Division of Critical Care Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, USA

  Jack K. Kilcullen

• Health Care Ethics Center, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA

  David F. Kelly

Policies and ethics