Intensive Care Unit Strain and Mortality Risk Among Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19—There Is No “Me” in COVID

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected numerous communities, and reports of overburdened hospitals, specifically critical care units, have become commonplace. High-quality supportive care remains the foundation for ensuring that people with COVID-19 who are critically ill have the best chance of surviving. Such care in prepandemic times relied on sufficient expert staffing, specialized equipment, and appropriate environments of care to reliably implement a myriad of processes that are associated with better outcomes. Given that these resources may not all be consistently available when severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is rapidly spreading throughout a community, Bravata et al¹ sought to evaluate the association of critical care strain from March through November 2020 with COVID-19 mortality in 88 Veterans Administration hospitals with 10 or more intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the US.