Rredheadbedhead t1_iycunlz wrote on November 30, 2022 at 1:33 PM

Reply to comment by bubba1819 in Maine is out of pediatric hospital beds. “As of Nov. 24, about 30,000 of the country's 40,000 pediatric hospital beds were available. Five states are at 90% capacity or higher. Currently the most overwhelmed state is Maine, at 109% capacity” by membaberry18

I used to work in pediatric emergency preparedness. The important thing to know when you’re talking “beds” in this sense is that it’s not about physical furniture, it’s about staffing and equipment. 1 bed = x skilled staff (nurses and docs) + y equipment (pediatric capable ventilators etc- many adult vents can’t be used for pediatric patients) and other considerations. Many large hospitals will only have a handful of pediatric critical care beds.

SobeysBags t1_iyddlx8 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 3:55 PM

I always wondered why they don't use the term "medically staffed beds" to avoid this confusion. So many people think "beds" just means furniture and they will be magically staffed by nurses and doctors.

bubba1819 t1_iydjuud wrote on November 30, 2022 at 4:36 PM

With the shortage of medical staff and everything it makes sense then why the numbers appear low