COVID-19: What Does it Take to Run an ICU?

COVID-19: What Does it Take to Run an ICU?

Having practiced critical care for almost 30 years in both first world and third world countries I continue to be amazed by how little I know or more importantly how dynamic critical care is. Already, before the coronavirus, ICU beds are our most resource-intensive place to provide care in any hospital. The use of them is guarded very, very carefully—most intensivists spend a lot of their day figuring out who needs one the most, when they can get it, and when they can get someone else out to a regular floor. And still, ICU beds are often full. Even though general occupancy may suggest otherwise, I’ve rarely known an ICU to have beds freely available. Even if the actual bed is empty, there is often not enough staff—usually nursing—to provide care, and so that bed cannot really be used.

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