Day 7: Brutal Triage – Freetown, Sierra Leone

These are the numbers in Sierra Leone from Les Roberts, WHO Foreign Medical Team Coordinator.

Les is a long-time epidemiologist and sanitation engineer; he's served in dozens of outbreaks and conflict situations including both of the cholera epidemics in Goma following the Rwandan genocide.

From the OP, which is worth reading in its entirety:

"[...] this is not about treating the ill as much as it is about minimizing infections. [...] We are primarily trying to facilitate people to die without infecting others. Very little of this logic beyond the ORS [oral rehydration supplement] is about treatment."

    " We are about to assist thousands and thousands of people 
    to die an excruciating death at home without even the most 
    mild of pain relief."

I simply don't understand this. Why isn't humane assisted suicide an option considered in this scenario? If I were one of the people who was going to be left to die an excruciating death, all I would want is one syringe with a super potent does of heroin... i.e. enough to slip into a warm coma and then shut down my breathing and nervous system. How hard can it be to repurpose seized drug shipments for such a purpose if shit is truly hitting the fan.

The longer the host stays alive, the longer the virus has to multiply in the host and get caretakers sick.

I wish I had someway to up vote this post to the top of HN. I feel like I am in a theatre on fire and everyone is ignoring it and just complaining that the smoke is blocking their view of the stage.