Intensive Care Med. 2006 Jul;32(7):1004-13. Epub 2006 Mar 29.
Gomersall CD, Tai DY, Loo S, Derrick JL, Goh MS, Buckley TA, Chua C, Ho KM,
Raghavan GP, Ho OM, Lee LB, Joynt GM.
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong, China. gomersall@cuhk.edu.hk
Epidemics have the potential to severely strain intensive care resources and may
require an increase in intensive care capability. Few intensivists have direct
experience of rapidly expanding intensive care services in response to an
epidemic. This contribution presents the recommendations of an expert group from
Hong Kong and Singapore who had direct experience of expanding intensive care
services in response to the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome. These
recommendations cover training, infection control, staffing, communication and
ethical issues. The issue of what equipment to purchase is not addressed. Early
preparations should include fit testing of negative pressure respirators,
training of reserve staff, sourcing of material for physical modifications to the
ICU, development of infection control policies and training programmes, and
discussion of triage and quarantine issues.