[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-506449-105":59,"doc-detail-506449-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","critical-care-capacity-during-the-covid-19-pandemic","Critical Care Capacity During the COVID-19 Pandemic","","From March 20, 2020 to October 31, 2021, Ontario admitted 9,096 residents with COVID-19-related critical illness to intensive care units, placing major strain on critical care services. During wave 3, ventilator use exceeded pre-pandemic historical averages by 180% as the system relied on deferred surgeries, new ICU beds, temporary surge space, team-based redeployed staffing, and inter-hospital transfers. Current capacity cannot match earlier surges due to worsening staffing shortages and burnout, requiring public health measures to reduce critical influxes.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/critical-care-capacity-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/506449/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/critical-care-capacity-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/506449.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"noah","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-09","2026-10-05",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How many Ontarians were admitted to ICUs with COVID-19-related critical illness during the study period?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"From March 20, 2020 to October 31, 2021, 9,096 Ontarians were admitted to ICUs with COVID-19-related critical illness.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What was the ICU ventilator demand during the peak of wave 3?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"At the peak of wave 3, the number of patients on invasive mechanical ventilation was over 180% of pre-pandemic historical averages.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why can’t Ontario’s critical care system currently accommodate another surge like waves 2 and 3?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Capacity is limited by worsening staffing shortages, healthcare worker burnout, and ongoing health system recovery efforts.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},506449,1791514040,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1099529839121,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","Version: 1.0  \nPublished: November 30, 2021  \nCitation: Barrett KA, VandeVyvere C, Haque N, et al. Critical care capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Science Briefs of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. 2021;2(51) . [https://doi.org/10.47326/](https://doi.org/10.47326/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.47326/)ocsat.2021.02.51.1.0  \nAuthor Affiliations: The affiliations of the members of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table can be found at [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[covid19-sciencetable.ca/](covid19-sciencetable.ca/) .  \nDeclarations of Interest: The declarations of interest of the members of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, its Working Groups, or its partners can be found at [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[covid19-sciencetable.ca/](covid19-sciencetable.ca/. The declarations)[. The declarations](covid19-sciencetable.ca/. The declarations)[ ](covid19-sciencetable.ca/. The declarations)of interest of external authors can be found under additional resources at [https://doi](https://doi). org/10.47326/ocsat.2021.02.51.1.0  \nAbout Us: The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table is a group of scientific experts and health system leaders who evaluate and report on emerging evidence relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform Ontario’s response. Our mandate is to provide weekly summaries of relevant scientific evidence for the COVID-19 Health Coordination Table of the Province of Ontario, integrating information from existing scientific tables, Ontario’s universities and agencies, and the best global evidence. The Science Table summarizes its findings for the Health Coordination Table and the public in Science Briefs.  \nCorrespondence to: Secretariat of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table ([info@covid19-sciencetable.ca](info@covid19-sciencetable.ca))  \nCopyright: 2021 Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. This is an open access document distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.  \nThe views and findings expressed in this Science Brief are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of all of the members of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, its Working Groups, and its partners.  \nSCIENCE BRIEFS  \nCritical Care Capacity During the COVID-19 Pandemic  \nKali A. Barrett, Cindy VandeVyvere, Nasim Haque, Meiyin Gao, Shujun Yan, Gerald Lebovic, Ian Ball, Nicolas S. Bodmer, Karen B. Born, Sonny Dhanani, Niall D. Ferguson, David Neilipovitz, Anna Perkhun, Michael Scott, Michael Sullivan, Josée Thériault, Laveena Munshi, Arthur S. Slutsky, Peter Jüni, Andrew J. Baker, on behalf of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table  \nKey Message  \nFrom March 20, 2020 to October 31, 2021, 9,096 Ontarians have been admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) with COVID-19 related critical illness. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained Ontario’s critical care system. At the peak of wave 3, the number of patients on ventilators was over 180% of pre-pandemic historical averages.  \nThe critical care system was able to accommodate this influx of patients by deferring surgeries and procedures, funding new ICU beds, identifying temporary surge space, team-based care models utilizing redeployed staff, and transferring patients between hospitals. This required effective collaboration and coordination across critical care system.  \nThe critical care system does not currently have capacity to accommodate a surge as it did during waves 2 and 3 due to worsening staffing shortages, healthcare worker burnout, and health system recovery efforts. Public health measures to mitigate influxes of critically ill patients are needed.  \nSummary  \nLarge numbers of patients with COVID-19 related critical illness (CRCI) requiring ICU care has placed considerable strain on Ontario’s critical care system. This brief outlineshow the Ontario critical care system has acc","cbCair7Jmvl5MhlL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCair7Jmvl5MhlL","pdf",2301575,15,"English","# Key Message\n# Summary\n# Questions\n# Findings\n## Staffing and ICU resources\n## Strategies to expand capacity\n## Patient transfers and regional clustering\n## Health system recovery and current threats","[{\"question\":\"How many Ontarians were admitted to ICUs with COVID-19-related critical illness during the study period?\",\"answer\":\"From March 20, 2020 to October 31, 2021, 9,096 Ontarians were admitted to ICUs with COVID-19-related critical illness.\"},{\"question\":\"What was the ICU ventilator demand during the peak of wave 3?\",\"answer\":\"At the peak of wave 3, the number of patients on invasive mechanical ventilation was over 180% of pre-pandemic historical averages.\"},{\"question\":\"Why can’t Ontario’s critical care system currently accommodate another surge like waves 2 and 3?\",\"answer\":\"Capacity is limited by worsening staffing shortages, healthcare worker burnout, and ongoing health system recovery efforts.\"}]","Critical Care Capacity During the COVID-19 Pandemic | PDF",1791165413,38]