Ghana's dancing pallbearers - BBC Africa

The New Urgency of EOL Conversations Because of COVID-19

Many doctors have asked: is this the calm before the storm? As more people start to get acute respiratory distress syndrome from this virus – and they will – it will get more difficult to manage. Are we going to be trying to assess our older patients with comorbidities in a telephone consult to ascertain whether they should go to hospital? Should we be starting to talk to all our patients about what their plan is if they get the virus?

Absolutely, we should. Any patient being admitted to hospital may not survive and may not see their family again. Especially if they are elderly and/or with comorbidities.

Steve Carroll, a US emergency physician said last week: “Patients are arriving without family or friends. Now we make sure they call their family before we put them on a ventilator. Because they may never get to speak to them again.”

COVID-19: Time to get serious about end-of-life discussions