Real-Life Decision Making
It's late in the evening, and you're just about to climb into
bed. The phone rings. It's a doctor from the emergency ward at the hospital.
"We have a patient here who's delusional. Can you tell us what to do?"
she asks.
You hop out of bed and head to the emergency ward. "Often, we get calls
from the emergency ward, asking for guidance on whether to admit a patient
or whether to discharge them," says Dr. Kamal Rungta. These days, because
of health-care cuts, the hospital is stretched very thin, and there isn't
room for everybody in a hospital.
When you get to the hospital, the emergency doctor is concerned, but advises
you there's no room in the hospital for this patient. "Please tell me
it's safe to send him home because there are no beds for us to keep him
here anyway," says the doctor.
The man, Andrew, isn't one of your patients, and so you try to gather
as much information about him as you can. Andrew is single and in his mid-40s.
He believes he's a superhuman who can save the world.
You could calm Andrew, send him on his way and ask him to report to the
hospital again in the morning. Or you could decide to admit him and give him
medication. The doctor is worried -- he doesn't want to dedicate a bed
and staff to someone who isn't physically sick.
Andrew pipes up and smiles: "I'm feeling fine now. I
just needed someone to talk to. Can I go home?" What do you do?