NORMALIZATION OF TRIAGE

This article deals with a problem that is perceived as extremely burde nsome by all those having to deal with it: the necessity of selecting the recipients of lifesaving medical resources that are not sufficient ly available to meet the demand, so that some of the potential benefic iaries must be left to die. Against the background of discussions abou t increasing pressures on the health care system to ration ressources, it is argued that this problem, known as that of ''triage'' in milita ry and disaster medicine and believed to arise only in rare instances of sudden catastrophes, is now becoming an everyday phenomenon in vari ous areas within the medical sector; However, very little is known abo ut how it is ''resolved'' in practice. This paper discusses three exam ples of everyday triage and reconstructs the logic and premises underl ying the decision behavior of those responsible in the respective area s.