Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You put the child at the top of the list.
This is the toughest decision a pediatric cardiologist has to make. A group
of doctors meets to discuss the list each time a new heart is found. In this
case, you agreed that the child in the most serious condition needed the heart
right away.
The good news is that both children are alive today. Both are living with
transplanted hearts.
Pediatric cardiologists face tough decisions like this all the time, says
pediatric cardiologist Dr. Cheryl Cammock. A common decision for her is whether
to perform additional studies in order to confirm that a certain procedure
is the right one to do. But those additional studies can be risky -- they
involve things like putting a breathing tube down a child's throat and using
general anesthesia [medications causing a state of unconsciousness].
"You constantly have to decide, what is the next test, what is the benefit
of it versus the risk of it, and how much more information will it give me
to make my decision?" says Dr. Cammock.
"I would say that I come across [decisions like] that at least several
times a week that are significant, and on a daily basis on more minor things,"
Dr. Cammock adds.