Intensive care units in the context of COVID-19 in Nepal: current status and need of the hour
Keywords:
COVID-19, Intensive care unit, Surge capacityAbstract
COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc all over the world. Even the most developed countries are facing shortage of intensive care unit beds more than ever, and despite their best efforts increasing number of people are losing lives mainly due to COVID-19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome. Nepal, with its poor healthcare infrastructure, will certainly suffer the loss of its citizens because of increased need of already overwhelmed intensive care unit beds. More concerning is the limited number of available trained healthcare workers required to run Level III intensive care unit which will not be adequate to deal with the surge of critically ill patients. The aim of this article is to explore the possible ways to build our intensive care unit capacity to cope with this pandemic that can be useful for advanced planning to cope with the probable surge of critically ill patients with COVID-19.
References
Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and important lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China. Summary of a report of 72314 cases from the Chinese center for disease control and prevention. Published online Feb 24, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.2648 [PMID: 32091533]
kathmandupost.com. [updated 30 March2020; cited 3 April 2020]. Available from:
https://tkpo.st/2Sk9A3i https://kathmandupost.com/23/2020/02/12/nepal-s-hospitals-have-no-icus-to-treat-coronavirus-patients-doctors-say
Guidelines for health institutions establishment, operation and upgrade standard. [cited 3 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.mohp.gov.np/downloads/Guideline%20for%20Health%20Institutions%20Established%20Upgrade%20standard.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC-4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.