Sweden Set to Turn to Nordic Neighbors for ICU Help: Report

(Bloomberg) --

Sweden looks set to ask its Nordic neighbors for help in alleviating the pressure on its health-care system, Svenska Dagbladet reported.

A decision on the “national escalation plan” will be made within the next 24 hours, the newspaper said citing a report in Dagens Medicin.

Sten Rubertsson, staff doctor at the National Board of Health and Welfare, told Dagens Medicin that he’s “unsure” if ICU beds can reach the 1,100 mark seen in the spring without outside help.

“People are exhausted,” Rubertsson said.

The board’s head of emergency preparedness, Johanna Sandwall, says Sweden’s regions have not yet hit their maximum capacity, but if that proves insufficient, “we can ask for help.”

“We have a Nordic co-operation model for emergency preparedness in health care and we have signed on to help each other in a crisis,” Sandwall said.

Read More: Swedish ICU Plight Not ‘Acute Crisis,’ Health Officials Say

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