After the horrific attack in northern Toronto on Monday, the years of training spent preparing for just such an event paid off. Still, this emergency situation was also a reminder of something else: hospitals in Toronto, and across Ontario, are dangerously overcrowded, which risks making mass-casualty incidents even deadlier. The international best-practice standard for hospital occupancy is 85 per cent — full enough to be properly utilized, with enough beds, equipment and personnel left over for sudden emergencies. Only by rapidly shuffling patients around could the hospital properly treat the injured people it received. Monday’s events are simply another reminder that a chronically overburdened system can, and eventually will, cost lives.

Source: National Post April 27, 2018 20:37 UTC