2006 Article about military medicine and the treatment of civilians in theatre.

[WoWdoc]

I found this to be an interesting read, albeit a bit dated. Are there any active duty physicians who would mind to comment on the ethical dilemmas which are spoken about towards the end of the article? I would appreciate hearing your opinions.
Thank you.

http://www.yalemedlaw.com/2006/11/civilian-use-of-military-hospitals/

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[backrow]

I have never heard of a local national being treated "if they have enough money." I guess if the US military starts bombing its own people then we would start taking those casualties as well. My opinion of the paper: a well written article about nothing, kinda like a Seinfeld episode.

 

[NavyFP]

When I left Afghanistan, we were only supposed to be treating local nationals and Afghan military if we had injured them. They were supposed to be taking care of their own. Did we still treat them? Yes. It is a hearts and minds thing.

 

[bobbyseal]

It is a hearts and minds thing.

Which hasn't seem to be working all that great unfortunately.

 

[pgg]

Law #4: THE PATIENT IS THE ONE WITH THE DISEASE.


There's only so much you can do for a patient. Handwringing and self-flagellation over what might happen to a local national patient we took care of after discharge from our facilities is ridiculous.

I don't see an ethical dilemma at all. We make good faith efforts to provide care to those people, subject to resource limitations and circumstances.

 

[grumbo]

We don't end up treating many civilians currently. As was stated above, we pretty much only treat those civilians that are injured as a result of our actions. However, we also end up treating a fair number of children who pick up unexploded ordinance left behind from the time the Russians were here. As was stated in the article, the biggest issue is not necessarily the treatment they get from us, but the follow up care they will get from their own health care system. If we take all the complicated cases, their doctors don't get the necessary experience they need. We have to let them take the majority of the cases so they learn to be self-sufficient.

The more difficult thing ethically is treating the enemy combatants. From what I've seen, they get the same treatment, the same operations, and the same pain control. We just don't enjoy treating them.

 

[JonDO]

The guidance to treating foreign nationals during deployment is if the injury will lead to loss of life, limb, or eyesight, then they can receive care. Otherwise, they should receive care in their own facility.

Sounds cut and dry, but there is a huge gray area.