Re:Germany locks down unvaccinated people, as leaders plan t...
by Tomte on Thursday December 02, 2021 @02:46PM
(#29421447)
Staffing, mostly. There are a lot of "beds" still available, just nobody to tend to them.
But another thing that always gets scrambled in the newspapers is the "level" of ICU beds.
The ICU at my town's hospital (and it's not small) has patients that would lie in a normal station at a big university hospital.
ICU bed != ICU bed. In smaller hospitals, ICU means "post-op, needs surveillance" or "gets oxygen".
At a large hospital ICU means "ECMO" or similarly severe conditions.
So when you're reading that there are x thousand ICU beds still available in the country: most are not really up to the task when it comes to a severe covid case, and furthermore, an ICU bed at the other end of the country doesn't help you much.
But another thing that always gets scrambled in the newspapers is the "level" of ICU beds.
The ICU at my town's hospital (and it's not small) has patients that would lie in a normal station at a big university hospital.
ICU bed != ICU bed. In smaller hospitals, ICU means "post-op, needs surveillance" or "gets oxygen".
At a large hospital ICU means "ECMO" or similarly severe conditions.
So when you're reading that there are x thousand ICU beds still available in the country: most are not really up to the task when it comes to a severe covid case, and furthermore, an ICU bed at the other end of the country doesn't help you much.