science

Rule of Rescue

Rule of Rescue is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Rule of Rescue rather than just read about it. In short: The Rule of Rescue is a term coined by A.R. Jonsen in 1986 that is used in a variety of bioethics contexts: 'a perceived duty to save endangered life where possible' (Bochner et al., 1994, pp901) 'the sense of immediate duty that people feel towards those who present themselves to a health service with a serious condition' (Nord et al., 1995b, pp90) 'an ethical imperative to save individual lives even when money mig…

Key takeaways

Rule of Rescue belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rule of Rescue to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rule of Rescue from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Rule of Rescue is a term coined by A.R. Jonsen in 1986 that is used in a variety of bioethics contexts:

'a perceived duty to save endangered life where possible' (Bochner et al., 1994, pp901) 'the sense of immediate duty that people feel towards those who present themselves to a health service with a serious condition' (Nord et al., 1995b, pp90) 'an ethical imperative to save individual lives even when money might be more efficiently spent to prevent deaths in the larger population'(Doughety, 1993, pp1359) 'the powerful human proclivity to rescue a single identified endangered life, regardless of cost, at the expense of any nameless faces who will therefore be denied health care' (Osborne and Evans, 1994, pp779)

Criticism The Rule of Rescue is heavily attacked by Shepley Orr and Jonathan Wolff in their article “Reconciling cost-effectiveness with the rule of rescue: the institutional division of moral labour”. They argue the application of the rule leads to injustice and a suboptimal health outcome under the constraint of limited resources. They plead for strict application of cost-effectiveness analysis (QALYs) as solid base of decision making with priorities. In order to avoid framing doctors in an “inhuman role” of deciding at the patients' bedside on the basis of cost effectiveness, they plead for “division of labour” between governments/institutions that allocate the resources on basis of cost effectiveness and doctors who try to save lives within given constraints, for which constraints they are not held personally responsible or liable. Orr and Wolff conclude: “The rule of rescue has a strong intuitive pull. It seems to express our common humanity, and to refuse a rescue on grounds of cost appears morally horrendous, even in cases that do not share all the paradigm features of the rule of rescue. Yet at the same time in a complex, resource-constrained world, cost-effectiveness cannot be ignored. The two types of reasoning appear irreconcilable. We believe, however, that this appearance is misleading, and ordinary processes of medical decision making show how to reconcile the two. Resource allocation decision making broadly follows cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), while emergency room and related ‘bedside’ decision-making is much closer to rescue reasoning. There is good reason for this division of labour, although we have conceded that this simple picture does need to be modified to accommodate the different ways in which both styles of reasoning take place in both venues. Nevertheless, the key point remains: cost-effectiveness analysis is needed to decide which tools of rescue to provide. Rescue can then take place in a manner apparently unconstrained by cost.“ “Reconciling the rule of rescue with cost-effectiveness” is important during pandemics. Most states have ignored cost-effectiveness analysis in applying lockdowns and delaying regular medical interventions with the “Rule of rescue”-argument during the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic. Orr and Wolff in 2014 profoundly argued that the “Rule of rescue” is the result of wrong reasoning. Cost-effectiveness reasoning with the aid of QALYs always leads to moral superior outcomes and optimal public health outcome, given constraints of resources and competing interests. In an unconstrained situation without conflicting interests, the rule of rescue leads to rightly perceived results, without causing (macro) problems.

See also A Theory of Justice Prioritarianism Social equity Triage Utilitarianism

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rule of Rescue

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rule of Rescue claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rule of Rescue before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rule of Rescue ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rule of Rescue

In research: Rule of Rescue appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rule of Rescue in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rule of Rescue is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bioethics, Bioethics stubs, Ethical principles, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rule of Rescue outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Rule of Rescue in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rule of Rescue means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rule of Rescue out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rule of Rescue in simple terms?

The Rule of Rescue is a term coined by A.R. Jonsen in 1986 that is used in a variety of bioethics contexts: 'a perceived duty to save endangered life where possible' (Bochner et al., 1994, pp901) 'the sense of immediate duty that people feel towards those who present themselves to a health service…

Why does Rule of Rescue matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rule of Rescue?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rule of Rescue.