RE: Ethical dilemmas and what to do about them
Fortunately for me I haven't had to make such a drastic decision. Not that it hasn't crossed into my mind as being deeply concerning. I have grandchildren that often come over on the weekend. All of them seven and under. Usually we pile up blankets on the floor and they camp out in the living room and I will sleep on the couch. One night they all fell asleep in my bed and I tried to sleep on a sliver of space left but it was too unbearable so I slept on the floor of the bedroom. I couldn't even imagine being put in a situation of which ones I'd save if a fire broke out and they were dispersed in different rooms, just having to be in the thought process is scary enough for me. I know I'd want to go down trying to save them all then to live with constant nagging of my conscious as to whether if I had did this or that or if I had just died myself attempting to get one more out could I have.
Thanks for the thoughtful response.
One of the points I wanted to make re: @khufu's comment (before I used all my bandwidth) applies here: in emergency situations, you don't have time to do detailed & fiddly analysis!
I understood that. Because we lack that opportunity was why I reflected back upon the aftermath thought process that would take place and the bothering of one's conscious....the if's, if's, if's.
I think that's why it's so important to tell people that they did all they could. I know it seems like a no-brainer, but difficult decisions are bad enough without people putting unrealistic expectations on each other or themselves. That, and I'm pretty sure we can train ourselves to better deal with the situations if they arise (but that's a convo for another day). Thanks again for the replies.