Vulnerabilidad y atención sanitaria: Derecho y protocolos médicos / Vulnerability and health care. Law and medical protocols

El artículo aborda el análisis de los criterios de asignación de recursos sanitarios escasos durante la pandemia producida por el virus covid 19 en España. Se analiza críticamente la ausencia de una perspectiva jurídico-constitucional en la elaboración de tales criterios y se sugiere la incorporación del criterio de equidad como garantía del efectivo disfrute del derecho constitucional a la protección de la salud por parte de las personas vulnerables

The article deals with the analysis of the criteria for the allocation of scarce health resources during the pandemic produced by the covid 19 virus in Spain. It critically analyses the absence of a legal-constitutional perspective in the elaboration of such criteria and suggests the incorporation of the criterion of equity as a guarantee of the effective exercise of the constitutional right to health protection by vulnerable persons

When the bells toll: engaging healthcare providers in catastrophic disaster response planning.

Catastrophic disaster planning and response have been impeded by the inability to better coordinate the many components of the emergency response system. Healthcare providers in particular have remained on the periphery of such planning because of a variety of real or perceived barriers. Although hospitals and healthcare systems have worked successfully to develop surge capacity and capability, less successful have been the attempts to inculcate such planning in the private practice medical community. Implementation of a systems approach to catastrophic disaster planning that incorporates healthcare provider participation and engagement as one of the first steps toward such efforts will be of significant importance in ensuring that a comprehensive and successful emergency response will ensue.

CMS fact sheet seeks to allay concerns about EMTALA, H1N1.

ED managers breathed a little easier when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a fact sheet clarifying how Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requirements would apply in the event of an H1N1-related surge this flu season. Still, read the communiqué carefully to remain compliant. * A complete waiver of EMTALA regulations will only occur if there is a formal declaration ofa public health emergency. * Off-campus flu screening clinics are not required to comply with EMTALA guidelines. * Any additional flu screening facilities within the ED, the hospital, or on campus still will be governed by EMTALA.