theforeigner
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http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/latest-east-anglia-news/Medics-warn-of-H1N1-intensive.5491822.jp
Medics warn of H1N1 intensive care crisis
Published Date: 24 July 2009
The swine flu pandemic could overwhelm intensive care beds in the East of England, leading doctors have warned.
Demand for intensive care beds, especially in children's units, could outstrip supply by 120% in the region, they said.
The need for ventilators to help people breathe could exceed supply by 20% as paediatric facilities are "quickly exhausted", according to the researchers.
Experts in intensive care and anaesthesia from the University of Cambridge, the Intensive Care Society and St George's Healthcare NHS Trust in London warned that English hospitals might be unable to cope with the amount of people affected by the pandemic.
Hospitals in the South West, South East and East Midlands are also likely to be among the worst hit, they said.
Demand for beds could be 130% above supply in the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority area. In the South West and East Midlands, demand could also be 120% above supply.
It is expected London would fare best and should have enough intensive care beds and ventilators.
Across the whole of England, demand for beds could be 60% above the number available, all based on a hospital admission rate of 0.25%.
The Government has insisted that it can cancel non-emergency operations to increase the number of beds available but the experts said in the journal Anaesthesia that even this would not meet demand.
The warning comes as a 26-year-old pregnant woman critically ill with swine flu is treated in a Swedish hospital after being transferred from Scotland because no beds were available in the UK for the specialist procedure she needed.
Medics warn of H1N1 intensive care crisis
Published Date: 24 July 2009
The swine flu pandemic could overwhelm intensive care beds in the East of England, leading doctors have warned.
Demand for intensive care beds, especially in children's units, could outstrip supply by 120% in the region, they said.
The need for ventilators to help people breathe could exceed supply by 20% as paediatric facilities are "quickly exhausted", according to the researchers.
Experts in intensive care and anaesthesia from the University of Cambridge, the Intensive Care Society and St George's Healthcare NHS Trust in London warned that English hospitals might be unable to cope with the amount of people affected by the pandemic.
Hospitals in the South West, South East and East Midlands are also likely to be among the worst hit, they said.
Demand for beds could be 130% above supply in the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority area. In the South West and East Midlands, demand could also be 120% above supply.
It is expected London would fare best and should have enough intensive care beds and ventilators.
Across the whole of England, demand for beds could be 60% above the number available, all based on a hospital admission rate of 0.25%.
The Government has insisted that it can cancel non-emergency operations to increase the number of beds available but the experts said in the journal Anaesthesia that even this would not meet demand.
The warning comes as a 26-year-old pregnant woman critically ill with swine flu is treated in a Swedish hospital after being transferred from Scotland because no beds were available in the UK for the specialist procedure she needed.