Anaesthesia, critical care & pain medicine
-
Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med · Dec 2020
Multicenter Study Observational StudyA national healthcare response to intensive care bed requirements during the COVID-19 outbreak in France.
Whereas 5415 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds were initially available, 7148 COVID-19 patients were hospitalised in the ICU at the peak of the outbreak. The present study reports how the French Health Care system created temporary ICU beds to avoid being overwhelmed. ⋯ During the COVID-19 outbreak, the French Health Care system created 4806 ICU beds (+95% increase from baseline), essentially by transforming beds from ACUs and PACUs. Collaboration between intensivists, critical care anaesthesiologists, emergency physicians as well as the mobilisation of nursing staff were primordial in this context.