HERoS partner Nordic Healthcare Group (NHG) has developed an online tool to visualise occupancy rates at intensive care units in different countries and regions of the European Union between February and November 2020. It is based on datasets from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as well as national health authorities.
Availability of data concerning ICU capacity at regional and country levels in real-time is pivotal to organise health infrastructure at the EU level during a crisis. In a statement issued on 29 October 2020, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, highlights that information sharing among member states would allow for cross-border sharing of resources in case of regional or national shortage. This declaration is closely in line with the observation that ICU capacity utilisation varied greatly among EU countries and regions during the first wave of the pandemic exposed in HERoS deliverable D2.2 Healthcare system analysis and the ensuing recommendation to ensure the availability of reliable data to distribute the ICU load across regional and national borders if needed.
This tool is an example of how data can be processed to guide decision-making by public authorities. It can be accessed at this URL: https://nhg.fi/en/covid19map/
The HERoS (Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems) research project’s objective is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the response to the Covid-19 outbreak. HERoS creates and provides policies and guidelines for improved crisis governance, with a core focus on responders to public health emergencies, and their needs to make informed decisions. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101003606.
The HERoS Consortium, which is coordinated by the Hanken HUMLOG institute, brings together the resources of 11 participating organisations from 6 European countries (Finland, the Netherlands, the UK, Poland, France, Italy), and the US, each excelling in their respective field of expertise and with significant research experience. NHG brings its know-how on simulation and insight on the healthcare service system to the consortium. https://www.heros-project.eu/
Read more at https://www.heros-project.eu/the-heros-project-launches-an-icu-capacity-data-visualisation-tool/
See the video showcasing the tool: https://youtu.be/QP9ctBs_UFk
