Doctors and nurses are warning that the “unprecedented” step of moving critically ill teenagers into regular ICUs amid a surge of children suffering from respiratory illnesses at Ontario’s pediatric hospitals lays bare the precarious conditions facing the health-care system. Health officials predict both RSV and influenza to peak in December, meaning there will be a two-month period of sustained pressures on critical care capacity, Simpson said. Ontario has about 100 pediatric ICU beds at its five pediatric hospitals, though Simpson said the system is able to surge up to 130 beds. Warner said older teens are similar to adults in their physiology and it will be safe for them to be cared for in adult ICUs. “But that adult ICU nurse or doctor could not care for the five-year-old with RSV.

Source: thestar November 04, 2022 03:20 UTC