Tool
Interactive Critical Care Surge Response Tool
Apr 17, 2020
In this report, the authors present strategies for creating critical care surge capacity and estimate the number of patients accommodated, given the number of available critical care doctors and nurses, respiratory therapists, ventilators, and hospital beds. They also document the development of a user-friendly tool that allows decisionmakers to estimate current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it.
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus is creating unprecedented stresses on hospital and critical care systems. Hospitals, health care systems, states, and regions urgently need to assess their resources, identify potential bottlenecks, and create strategies for increasing critical care surge capacity, which refers to the resources needed to care for the sickest patients with the novel coronavirus.
In this report, the authors present a list of strategies for creating critical care surge capacity and estimate the number of patients accommodated, given the number of available critical care doctors and nurses, respiratory therapists, ventilators, and hospital beds. They also document the development of a user-friendly, Microsoft Excel–based tool that allows decisionmakers at all levels — hospitals, health care systems, states, regions — to estimate current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it.
The strategies are organized into two tiers. Tier 1 includes contingency capacity strategies: adaptations to medical care spaces, staffing constraints, and supply shortages in a way that can increase capacities without significant impact on medical care delivery. Tier 2 includes crisis capacity strategies: changes that likely will have significant impact on routine care delivery and operations.
Chapter One
Background
Chapter Two
Essential Components of Critical Care Capacity
Chapter Three
Strategies to Create Critical Care Surge Capacity
Chapter Four
Assessing Critical Care Capacity Created by Various Surge Strategies
Chapter Five
Next Steps and Policy Recommendations
Appendix
Research Methods
Funding for this independent research was provided by gifts from RAND supporters and income from operations. This research was conducted by RAND Health Care.
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