You are right. It isn’t universal, nor is it a law in many countries. Still, it is an oath that many take, and this is why they won’t refuse to treat anyone, even their enemies.
The relevant part, albeit not part of the original oath, can be summarized as “help, or do not harm”. And not helping a wounded person when you could is considered by many of their peers as harm by inaction.
Of course you won’t chastise them for breaking their oath, you don’t have the power to do anything anyway, but their peers will, and it is almost impossible to find work in this field once you are identified as an oath breaker.
On the other hand, there can be some triage during such an event, and if the hospital is too full, guess who will probably not get priority over their victims?
You are right. It isn’t universal, nor is it a law in many countries. Still, it is an oath that many take, and this is why they won’t refuse to treat anyone, even their enemies.
The relevant part, albeit not part of the original oath, can be summarized as “help, or do not harm”. And not helping a wounded person when you could is considered by many of their peers as harm by inaction.
Of course you won’t chastise them for breaking their oath, you don’t have the power to do anything anyway, but their peers will, and it is almost impossible to find work in this field once you are identified as an oath breaker.
On the other hand, there can be some triage during such an event, and if the hospital is too full, guess who will probably not get priority over their victims?