Critical Care
Volume 9
Issue 4 |
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This article is part of a series on Disaster Management, edited by J. Christopher Farmer.CommentaryCritical care during epidemicsLewis Rubinson1  and Tara O'Toole2 1Senior Fellow, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 2Chief Executive Officer and Director, Center for Biosecurity, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA  author email corresponding author email
Critical Care 2005,
9:311-313doi:10.1186/cc3533 Abstract
We recommend several actions that could improve hospitals' abilities to deliver critical care during epidemics involving large numbers of victims. In the absence of careful pre-event planning, demand for critical care services may quickly exceed available intensive care unit (ICU) staff, beds and equipment, leaving the bulk of the infected populace without benefit of potentially lifesaving critical care. The toll of death may be inversely proportional to the ability to augment critical care capacity, so critical care health care professionals must take the lead for planning and preparing to care for numbers of seriously ill patients that far exceed available ICU beds. | 
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