is every life equal?

omg... i should have never used the example... theres no triage... we're not talking about hospital protocals... just simple which people are more important the others... not whos in more critical of a position... lets just say everyone is coming in with the exact same thing going on...

Experiences and the interruptation of experiences make us all different.

Of course they don't.. The doors aren't big enough. Dinosaurs drink in Airports. Everybody knows that.

Back on topic, you help the person who has a better chance of survival first. If both come in and one has an 20% chance of survival, and the other has a 50% chance of survival, you're going to choose the one with the better odds.

ive got a better example to consider the question with... pretend youre on a transplant committee... and you have one heart with several people who need a new one... how do you pick who lives and who dies... not the standard criteria in place... who you personally would vote to save...

it must be awful to be on that board though...

Thats a tough one, but I think that if all parties are equal, I would tend to want to give the transplant to the individual who has the highest likelihood of being a benefit to society.

You will be picking who is to receive the transplant with an increased likelihood of survival and longevity. You are not deciding who will die. Medication or new techniques or another transplant opportunity may come along. Under normal and standard criteria for judgment The person with the best chance to survive with increased quality of life will be chosen. If medical personnel are to do their job, which is to alleviate suffering, prolong life, help to heal sick and suffering people then they will, of necessity, have to make agonizing decisions on where to employ finite resources. Just as police officers and firefighters must do. bybee

hmm I think that you can't really measure how important a persons life is. I mean you could have one heart and give it to the person that's most likely to survive, but several days later they could walk onto the street, get hit, and then die. Also how do you know if someone will benefit society more than another. You could think music was a useless thing in the world that no one needed but someone could totally contradict you.

You have assessments. A Airway B Bleeding C Circulation and so on. They are assessed in critial say one is bleeding and the other is choking. You would assist the choking and then the bleeding. In the medical profession u have morals and then the no morals, by creed they shouldn't judge but hey we live in the real world as cruel as is. I think my doctor would try to save them both that is the type of person she is. Another Doctor I would flatline and be dead for two hours before he would decide to help me

So are you saying it is best to make no decision? If there is only one heart and two viable recipients waiting in line for the transplant what do you suggest should be done? bybee

We could do the mindless thing and flip a coin.

It is a good thing for society that there are people who care enough to prepare themselves to be able to respond to the needs of others. Doctors and nurses respond, on a daily basis, to every kind of crisis, illness, accident and simple health maintenance. Operating rooms have round the clock coverage for emergency response. Emergency C-sections would bump all other cases. An educated and experienced decision must be made on how to best employ the limited resources at hand so as to give the best chance for survival to the most needy first. This is also true in the Emergency room. Certain traumas take precedence over all other cases. Police Officers and Fire Fighters are under the same parameters. They must assess deadly situations under extreme stress and try to come up with the best response which the presenting circumstances demand. A Police Officer's response must correspond to the level of danger so he/she can keep the peace if possible. Many an officer has given his life to protect the citizens of his community. The same is true of Firefighters. They risk their lives on behalf of society. It is a given that people in positions of authority are held to a higher standard of conduct than the average citizen. Arm Chair Quarterbacks rarely serve a useful purpose!!!Yet, it is useful for knowledgeable people to review professional behaviors to see that standards are being maintained and to provide training and retraining as needed. God Bless the people who do their jobs to help keep me and my family safe and healthy. bybee

The Bible says that "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. Therefore, you need to care and treat both people, because who are you or we to say who should and should not get treatment. There are people on here who act like they don't remember to whom they came from. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Anyone ever heard of that. The world says "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Most things we get, are from the Bible, but there are alot of people who refuse to admit that is where it starts. Funny that one person on here said, "follow your gut". In other words, that means follow your conscience or better term, your Spirit, which comes from God. If you are in a profession that requires you to care for All patients, then I am not understanding your question here.

there are situations where people are basically forced to choose one life over another... im just wondering how everyone would decide that if it were up to them personally to make that call...

Maybe, maybe not, but we start as equal, so it's not up to humans to make that decision.

sometimes we have to... doesnt make sense to let everyone die just cuz we'd have to pick and choose...