Hospitals could not cope with plane crash or terror attack - audit finds
Irish hospitals would not be able to cope if there was a major plane crash or terrorist attack, according to an audit of our Intensive Care Units.
The report found that bed occupancy at Irish ICUs was over 90% throughout 2017.
Recommended occupancy levels are between 70% and 80%.
Clinical Lead for the Audit, Dr Rory Dwyer, said we do not have enough extra beds to manage a catastrophic event.
He said: "A critical incident like an explosion or a plane crash or an epidemic, there's no reserve capacity in Irish intensive care units to cope with that.
"There would not be enough capacity to cope with the demand that was experienced say with the bombs in England or the attacks in Paris.
"They have more reserve capacity than we do and we would be overwhelmed."
