hospital overflow
Too many patients
Hospital overflow is when patient volume exceeds a facility's capacity, forcing hospitals to divert ambulances, set up temporary treatment areas, or transfer patients elsewhere.
The term gained prominence during public health emergencies: During the COVID surge, hospital overflow pushed patients into hallways and parking structures.
It can also describe patients themselves who exceed capacity: The overflow was sent to a field hospital.
- surgeSudden powerful increase
- crowdedFilled beyond comfort
- emergency roomHospital crisis department
- emergencySerious sudden danger
- bedsFurniture for sleeping
bed shortage · waiting · waiting room · triage · hallway · stretchers · crisis · code black · capacity · no vacancy · packed · chaos · all hands on deck · nurses · exhausted · stretched thin · patients · gurneys
- pandemiclockdowns, COVID-19, outbreak, epidemic, COVID
- health crisespandemic, epidemic, outbreak, health emergency, public health emergency
hospital, overflow, hospitals, hospitalize, hospitalized, hospitalization, hospitalizing, hospitable, hospitably