Study of the Increase in ICU Beds Capacity During COVID-19 Pandemic in France

Since December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease has caused a worldwide outbreak of
respiratory illness that rapidly invaded leading the world (WHO). Its most severe form is
dominated by an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with other organ failures
requiring mechanical ventilation and admission in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). With a wide
pandemic effect and a long length of mechanical ventilation, the intensive care units were
quickly full.

For preventing the overwhelming of ICU beds capacity, national and regional Health-Care
institutions (then French Health minister, every Regional Health) decided to optimize the
Intensive Care Unit beds availability by opening new ICU beds in institutions with and
without prior ICU.

Daily ICU beds availability was assessed in each institution, and at the regional level to
organize potential patient transfers across regional and national hospital. Moreover, an
extraordinary mobilization and joint efforts of medical, paramedical and administrative staff
allowed getting the caregivers for managing the most severe patients in each ICU. All
physicians who could manage ICU patients were involved in this crisis. In this context,
anesthesiologists (who have gotten an ICU education during their studies) were involved, as
the surgical activity has been reduced to the vital procedures. This overall organization
permitted the admission of more patients than the initial maximum national capacity of ICU
beds.