This article was first published in the Summer 2021 issue of Critical Connections.
 
An intensive care medicine attending physician works at a tertiary care hospital. Six weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical intensive care unit (MICU) has been operating at an average of 95% capacity. All the hospital beds that could be transitioned to ICU-level to accommodate the overflow of critically ill patients were transitioned weeks ago. Elective admissions and surgeries are going forward on a case-by-case basis. The hospital created a resource allocation algorithm at the beginning of the pandemic but it has not been used because the state’s governor has not declared an official state of emergency.
 
Critical Connections, the critical care industry's only newsmagazine, provides information on cutting-edge topics in critical care useful to the entire multiprofessional team.Jessica M. Turnbull, MD, MA
Erin M. Johnson, MD, MA, FAAP
David A. Oxman, MD, HEC-C