Bed Surge Capacity in Saudi Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
; : 1-7, 2021 Apr 19.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2258601
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To assess the hospital beds and intensive care unit (ICU) beds with a ventilator surge capacity of the health system in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.METHODS:
This study used relevant data from the National Health Emergency Operation Center to estimate general hospital and ICU bed surge capacity and tipping points under 3 distinct transmission scenarios.RESULTS:
The study results reveal that hospitals in the KSA need to be supplied with additional 4372 hospital beds to care for COVID-19 positive cases if the pandemic continues over a 6 months' period. At the same time, it requires additional 2192 or 1461 hospital beds if the pandemic persists over a 12- or 18-month period, respectively, to manage hospitalized COVID-19 overloads. The health system surge capacity would suffer from a shortage of 1600, 797, and 540 ICU beds under the 3 transmission scenarios to absorb critical and intensive care COVID-19 cases.CONCLUSION:
Our findings highlight the urgent need for additional hospital and ICU beds in the face of critical COVID-19 cases in KSA. The study recommends further assessment measures to the health system surge capacity to keep the Saudi health system prepared during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
English
Journal:
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Dmp.2021.117
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS