Understanding Hospital Surge Capacity Amidst COVID

Dr. Joe Holley shares his expertise with the Disaster Podcast crew as we look at the realities of patient care in the midst of the current increase of COVID-19 cases around the world. One of the biggest things that affect that care is the ability of a region’s hospitals to surge capacity in beds and staff.

While creating new bed spaces and acquiring new beds to fill them is relatively easy, you cannot create new staffing the same way. Early in the pandemic response when most of the cases were isolated in the Northeastern U.S. and then later in the south, critical care staff were able to move from other areas to help cover gaps. Now, with COVID surging everywhere, there is no excess staff to be found and that will ultimately affect care as the number of patients exceeds a hospital’s ability to care for them.

Also on the show were co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis, along with disaster meteorologist Becky DePodwin.

Join the Discussion

Join the discussion after the show with co-hosts Sam Bradley and Jamie Davis, the Podmedic in our Disaster Podcast Facebook Group now!

Paragon Brings “The Experience”

Paragon Medical Education Group specializes in bringing what they call “The Experience” to jurisdictions around the country. They bring together police, fire, EMS, and hospital teams to train together and learn what to expect from each diverse group in the response team so that each knows what to expect from the other and how to back the other groups up. Visit Paragon’s site at ParagonMedicalGroup.com for more information on how this can be brought into your system.